


𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑 ⤖ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦

by ofwessex



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Anglo-Saxon, Battle, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Christianity, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Multi, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Vikings, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:35:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26402011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofwessex/pseuds/ofwessex
Summary: "𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄,  𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭?"⪼ ⪼ ⪼"the last kingdom" fanfiction. sets after season four (consider this an AU season five).  eventual!edward the elder / oc.  rated mature.(has some inspirations from history channel's "vikings" and other historical fictions).⪼ ⪼ ⪼
Relationships: Edward the Elder/Original Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Osferth (c. 885-934)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. ➶ 𝗦𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗣𝗦𝗜𝗦 ➴

~~~

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀, 𝗈𝖿 𝖢𝗈𝗋𝗇𝗐𝖺𝗅𝗁𝗆 & 𝖢𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗎𝗋𝗁, 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗇 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗉𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗎𝗀𝗀𝗅𝖾𝗌. 𝖲𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗍 𝖲𝖺𝗂𝗇𝗍 𝖠𝗎𝗀𝗎𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗇𝖾'𝗌 𝖠𝖻𝖻𝖾𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖪𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗎𝗂𝖽𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖦𝗈𝖽-𝖿𝖺𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖤𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗇; 𝖦𝗎𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝖪𝖾𝗇𝗍, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖥𝖺𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖳𝗁𝖾𝗈𝗐𝗂𝗇𝖾; 𝖯𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖢𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗎𝗋𝗁. 𝖶𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐𝗅𝖾𝖽𝗀𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖠𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖶𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗑 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖪𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖤𝖽𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽, 𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗈𝖿 the late 𝖠𝗅𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖦𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍. 𝖫𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝖠𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝗉 𝖽𝗋𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗆 𝗈𝖿 𝖺𝗇 𝖤𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗅𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾.

𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑, with the powers of responsibilities, comes with great consequences. Enemies: Danes, Saxons, and Britons scheme in the shadows across land and sea. Friends & allies question Anna's true origins. And forbidden love hangs in the balance between life and death.

𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 Anna rise & lift the dream of England into reality or will she fall and burn under the tyrants who rue her existence?

𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑵𝒀 𝑰𝑺 𝑨𝑳𝑳

~~~


	2. ↳ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 ↲

~~~

𝐈 do not own any of the characters or story. All of that belongs to the author Bernard Cornwell, the creator of "The Saxon Tales", and the writers and producers of Netflix's series "The Last Kingdom".

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 are influences/inspirations of History Channel's television series "Vikings" in the story but not too many.

𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, this is both fanfiction & historical fiction. For a warning, characters and timelines will be missed placed in the story due to historical inaccuracies in both television series and how this story's plot places out. As a former history major and history hobbyist, I know how hard it is to write historical fiction and try to keep it historically accurate. But since this is COMPLETELY fiction, I will do my best to respect actual historical records and have people not offended by the historical details I will bring in this story.

𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲, I will tag "Vikings" in the story due to the influences/inspirations that the series brought to this story.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 you and I hope you enjoy this story

~~~


	3. 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐂 ⤖ 𝐨𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭

~ ~ ~

"𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝑶𝑾, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆"

𝖠𝖫𝖫𝖨𝖤𝖲 𝖮𝖥 𝖠 𝖴𝖭𝖨𝖳𝖤𝖣 𝖪𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖣𝖮𝖬

+

𝑫𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒚 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂

𝑨𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑫𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏

𝑨𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒔𝒊 𝒂𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒇𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒅

𝑺𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓 𝑲𝒆𝒚𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂 _ð_ 𝒓 𝑺𝒊𝒉𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏

𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂 𝑴𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊

𝑴𝒊𝒎𝒊 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒆

𝑰𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑬𝒍𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏 ; 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒉

𝑱𝒐𝒆𝒍 𝑬𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒆

𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑮𝒊𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝑮𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏

𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒚𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒔 _Æ_ 𝒔𝒄

𝑹𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒂 𝑭𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈

𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕 𝑯𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒘𝒂𝒏

𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒍𝒃𝒊𝒏

𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂 ; 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒉

~~~

"𝑩𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑺, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑺"

𝖤𝖭𝖤𝖬𝖨𝖤𝖲 𝖮𝖥 𝖠 𝖣𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖬

+

𝑷𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒖 𝑨𝒔𝒃 _æ_ 𝒌 𝒂𝒔 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒂𝒓 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅-𝑬𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒆

𝑹𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒊 _ð_ 𝒖𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒅 _ó_ 𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑽𝒊𝒈𝒅𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒏

𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒓𝒎 ; 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄

𝑱𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒂𝒏 ; 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒉𝒎

𝑵𝒂𝒐𝒎𝒊 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒚𝒔 ; 𝑸𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒉𝒎

𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒏 ; 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒉𝒎

𝑴𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒊𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒈 ; 𝑺𝒑𝒚 𝒐𝒇 _Æ_ 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎

~~~

"𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝑬𝑰𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀"

𝖶𝖠𝖳𝖢𝖧𝖤𝖱𝖲 𝖮𝖥 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖳𝖠𝖫𝖤

+

𝑮𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑻𝒐𝒗𝒂

𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑫𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒔 _Æ_ 𝒃𝒃𝒆

𝑰𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒍𝒂 𝑫𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒌 𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓

𝑰𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑫𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒉

𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝑴𝒄𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒖 ; 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏

𝑫𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒚𝒏𝒉 _æ_ 𝒕𝒉 ; 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒏

𝑯𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 ; 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒉

𝑻𝒐𝒎 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓, 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒂

𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒂 𝑻𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒓-𝑱𝒐𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒚𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒕

𝑺𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒊𝒉𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅

𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒉

𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎

𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂 𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆

𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝑨𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑯 _á_ 𝒎𝒕 _ú_ 𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒓

𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝑨𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔

𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑶𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂 ; 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆 

𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒓 ; 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒙

𝑻𝒐𝒎 𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔 '𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆' 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒂

𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑳𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆 ; 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅


	4. ⭑ 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘 ⭑

_~~~_

_"ealdorlegu sy stíþ"_

𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 

quote by bernard cornwell.

~~~

♪ 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ♪

The Last Kingdom (television theme - John Lunn & Eivør)

The Vagabond (Marcin Przybyłowicz)

Greenheart (Brad Derrick)

Virgin Light (Cheryl Ann Fulton)

Thirr (ASKII)

Lionheart (Angels of Venice)

~~~


	5. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈. ￩

~~~

_'The Crown' alehouse,_ _Old Basing_

𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 into an alehouse was nothing compared to wandering through a Dane settlement. Her eyes still glanced around the dark and stuffy room with caution. Her hands trembled and shook around her drink of ale. Blood was still stained on her long porcelain fingers and cold sweat still lingered on her forehead. The young woman never liked being in an alehouse or an inn because of how loud and sometimes how dangerous it would get, but this was the only place for her to stay for a night. The woman became wary as men glanced at her with eyes of hunger and lust. She knew she had to stay away or face the consequences. 

An older and much more rounded man waddled to the woman's side. The stench of ale and sweat made the woman move away from him as much as possible. His lips smacked as he drunkenly studied her, "Wh-... What's you're name, beautiful?" _  
_

The woman ignored the fat man hoped that maybe he could move away. However, that wasn't the case. The man persisted and took the woman's arm, "Oi! I was talking to you!"

"Let go of me or I will have to remove you myself", the woman's warning voice was as deadly as a sharpened knife. She had dwelt with men like him before, drunk men... It didn't matter if he was Dane or Saxon, a drunk man can either be very colorful or very dark... This man's drunken wants and needs were of the dark. The fat man laughed devilishly still gripping on the woman's porcelain arm, "And how are-" He then set out a large belch before continuing what was going to reply with, "Are you going to do that? Hm?" 

The woman's eyes briefly looked away and made eye contact with a man in a fur cloak across the room. In that brief eye contact, she saw the man's company and their faces looked sympathetic towards the young woman. She saw them whispering to one another as if they were planning something... The hooded woman hoped that it was a plan to drive the drunk away from her. 

"Hey!" The drunkard yelled at the woman, trying to gain her attention back to him, "I was talking to you" The woman's hood fell off her dark golden blond hair as the man yanked her arm tightly and painfully. When she yelped in pain, the man in the fur cloak stood up and walked towards the two. The blond woman looked up at the younger man and knew that God answered her prayer.

"Leave the poor woman alone" The man spoked with such sternness and authority. The blond woman noticed that the man's accent was not of Saxon - but Dane. However, his face was of Saxon descent. Whatever ethnicity he was, she did not care. If he was going to scare this drunkard away from her, she would be grateful and in debt to him and his men. 

The woman's defender continued as he studied the drunkard, "You were in Tettenhall, part of Lady Æthelflæd's fyrds-" The drunken man the puked on the table letting of the woman's now bruised arm. She quickly stood up and her savior gently took an arm around her shoulder as they watched the man continuing to puke, "Let's leave this place, the man is too drunk to even reason with." After the conflict was over, the blond woman put her hood over her head and followed the man who saved her dignity. As they reached out in the night air, her defender and his men huddled around her to keep her safe. 

"It's not safe for a lady to walk into an alehouse unattended" The defender spoke out from the silence. The woman quickly spoke, "I'm no lady or of noble blood-" 

"Really?" The man interjected as he pointed out the woman's cloak, "Your golden broch says otherwise" The blond woman looked down at her broch and trickles of memories came into her mind of the gift her guardian gave before she died, "It was a gift from my guardian, Lady Agatha of Cantwareburh-"

"So you are a lady" A younger voice perked up from the group. The young woman turned her head to the young man who shyly looked away, "I was a _ward_..." She then felt hands reaching out for hers and studying them, "Did you fight someone or kill-"

"I didn't kill anyone", She quickly her bloodied hand away from the bearded Irish man, "I'm a healer and a midwife" Her defender raised an eyebrow and intently listened to the former Cantwareburh ward, "I helped a woman give birth today, I wasn't able to wash my hands... Baby girl, if you were all wondering..." 

Silence came upon them during the time the healer thought about the woman who she'd helped with. She remembered how old the woman was and that she was old enough to be the healer's mother. The healer remembered the cries of joy between the mother and the cries of the baby... How precious it was to the young healer... Even during times of strife and hardships across the land of England, little moments between a newborn and a mother warmed the healer's heart.

After a moment of silence between her and the group of men, she softly smiled, "I should say thank you" She continued, "I would usually have to deal with situations myself, and sometimes I would have to use violence to getaway" 

"How violent would you have to be when it gets bad?" The Irish man asked. The healer smirked a bit before answering, "A good punch in the face or kick in the balls does the job" The men snickered and smiled a bit before the healer asked the group, "What should I call you honorable men?" Her defender looked at her and introduced himself and his men, "I'm Uhtred, the men who are with me are Osferth, Sihtric, and the Irish man is Finan." The healer looked at the men's friendly faces with a warm smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. It's rare these days to find people who are friendly and kind to others... I've been traveling all over the land from Lavenham all the way to Leyland-"

"All by yourself?" Sihtric spoke with a sense of worry, "With bandits and thieves-" Finan added, "Not to mention Danes"

"Right", Sihtric continued, "You must've had some problems on your travels." The blond healer nodded, "I did, but I had ways to divert the problems and avoid conflicts" The healer could tell that Uhtred and his men were becoming intrigued by her and a bit of her background. She couldn't tell if she was blest or maybe cursed that she was going to be intertwined with these men. Osferth, the young-looking man, kindly asked, "How did you avoid the conflicts, lady?"

"I thought I told you I'm not a lady" A humorous smile came upon her lips as she watched Osferth blushed a bit, "It must've slipped out..." The healer continued to smile and began answering, "Well, sometimes I would have to negotiate with people if I could help heal them or their folk in order to walk as a free woman." Uhtred tilted his head a bit in curiosity due to how risky it must have been for the healer, "You negotiated with Danes?"

The healer nodded, "Yes, I actually have. The Danes are people too, treat them with kindness and an offer of help; they will agree and comply... But I have made some close calls with them though... Sometimes I thought I was going to be a slave" She then shrugged, "But I guess the Lord was watching over me..." After the healer spoke Uhtred grew more curious about her. The way that she had no personal feelings towards the Danes made him draw him closer to and about how brave she was traveling alone just for her profession. 

"You've been traveling all over the land just to heal people? Do you ever get paid?" Finan asked as he tossed his coin up and down in his palms. The woman sighed, "I don't like taking money, I have really no need of it... But sometimes people insist on me being rewarded or something..." Uhtred commented, "That is very kind of you, there are many people in this world who are greedy" The healer nodded as the men reached to the stables where their horses were stationed, "I guess I want to put a little good in this world... Lady Agatha told me great deeds of people and how they weren't rewarded, I think I wanted to be one of those few"

That hit Uhtred. He remembered the times he did great deeds and how many times he was unrewarded. The want of being awarded was what Uhtred desired him the most, but this healer wanted none. He felt almost jealous of this unknown healer and how humble she was in her heart. She was a rare creature in his eyes. As the men started to pack their things onto their horses, the healer felt her call to leave the men alone and be on her way, "I think I should go, thank you all for helping-"

"You haven't told us you're name, _lady_ " Finan spoke with a hint of tease in the last bit. The healer chuckled as she crossed her arms from the cold breeze that touched her skin, "I'm Anna of Cornwalhm-" Osferth asked in confusion, "I thought you were from Cantwareburh?" 

Anna slightly rolled her eyes since this question was frequently asked when she told people where she was from, "I was born in Cornwalhm but I was raised in Saint Augustine's Abbey in Cantwareburh along with my sisters-" Finan's brows rose in mischief, " _Oh, sisters_?"

"Yes sister, two of them" She continued, "But that's neither here nor there... Anyway, I should get-" Uhtred, who grew more curious about Anna, asked a simple question, "Are you staying here for a time?" That stopped in Anna's steps, she knew where this question was going to lead and she hoped that maybe that they will take her away from this drunken town. "No, I'm hoping to go to Winchester" Anna continued, "My childhood friend was just made a guard of Wessex's royal court and I want to visit him and congratulate on his accomplishment."

Uhtreds eyes slightly widen and gave a small smile, "We are traveling to Winchester, our dear friend is an abbess and we haven't seen her in a while" He continued, "If you want, you can join us in our travels" Anna softly yet sadly smiled, "I would be honored to join you all, but my horse was stolen a fortnight ago" 

But Uhtred replied, "You can share a ride with us" He looked at Osferth, "I'm sure if you ride with Osferth, he wouldn't mind" When Uhtred addressed Osferth, the former novice monk's face turned to beat red as the thought of Anna riding with him. Oblivious to Anna, Osferth was the one who first noticed Anna back in the alehouse and commented to the group that she was _'gorgeous'_...Obviously, his friends teased him about his little infatuation for the young healer.

Sihtric and Finan quietly chuckled a bit from Osferth's reaction but Anna smiled widely, "Well I wouldn't mind" Anna walked up to Osferth, who was already mounted upon his horse and extended her arm towards him for a lift up. When Osferth helped her up on his grey horse, Uhtred began to ride first out of the stable and the rest followed. "You lucky bastard", Finan joked and teased Osferth who only rolled his eyes and tried to not smile like an idiot he felt. 

Anna only smiled a bit at the little interaction between Finan and Osferth and how she felt lucky to find these rare men to help her travel to Winchester. Little did she knew at that moment, this was the start of a destiny that would change her life forever and how this group of men would become one of the closest group of people that she would ever have. 

~~~

 _Ælswith's quarters,_ _Winchester_

**Æ** 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐋 **Æ** 𝐃 watched the healers work as vigorously as they could. Her mother was lying on her bed wheezing and sweating from this unknown illness that the healers could not fathom. It worried the Lady of Mercia, she had never seen Ælswith so sick and so pale. Memories of how weak Æthelflæd's father was before he passed flooded her thoughts and when she couldn't handle looking at her mother anymore. And so, she left her mother's room with frustration. As she walked down the hall, tears trickled down Æthelflæd's cheeks. Her heart grieved for weeks of her mother and how much she feared that her mother would die in such great pain and suffering. _  
_

Aldhelm, Æthelflæd's trusted guard and advisor came to her side when he saw her leave Ælswith's quarters, "My lady, I-"

"Aldhelm, I know what you're going to say" Æthelflæd spoke as she tried to clear her throat from all the tears she tried to hold back, "I will not go back to Mercia until I know my mother will survive this illness"

Aldhelm slightly sighed at Æthelflæd's determination of staying with her gravely ill mother. But he knew that the Lady of Mercia needed to return to her ruling country. It had been almost a month since the siege of Winchester and since then Æthelflæd had tried her hardest to stay at her mother's side. But Æthelflæd was not the lady or queen of Wessex, it was not her duty to aid her mother and the court... It was her brother, the King of Wessex, to aid their mother. Aldhelm knew that Edward wasn't doing his duty to watch over his mother's well being during the last month. 

Ever since then, Edward was getting distracted by the lords of Wessex and their demands - especially Lord Æthelhelm's demands. In Aldhelm's opinion, it was quite unfair for Æthelflæd to watch over her mother when it wasn't her duty. Her duty is of Merica and Merica alone... Ælswith, a daughter of Merica, would understand... Right? Aldhelm did not know... He can only press on to Æthelflæd that she needed to return to Merica before her people would think that Lady Æthelflæd abandoned them...

"Lady" Aldhelm pleaded quietly in the dimmed hall, "The witan of Merica have been requesting for your presence for the past week-" Æthelflæd stopped in her tracks and faced Aldhelm with frustration and anger in her expression, "Aldhelm, I know. I have not forgotten the witan and their request. But if I leave not knowing what my mother's fate is, then..." She stopped and closed her eyes to compose herself and her emotions. She understood the dire situations on both sides; her mother and her country... Weighing those two sides were difficult for Æthelflæd, she needed to make a decision or a plan to make sure that her mother would be watched over other than herself. To her knowledge, she understood that some members in Edward's court were sour to her mother and she began to wonder whether if this illness was actually an illness or a plot to take Ælswith away from the court...

Just when Æthelflæd was going to suggest Aldhelm her thoughts about the possibilities of who would want her mother gone from the Wessex court, Edward and Æthelhelm walked down the hall and spotted Æthelflæd and Aldhelm. "Lady Æthelflæd", Æthelhelm addressed to the Lady of Mercia, "We didn't think you and Aldhelm were still awake"

"Lord Æthelhelm, I was attending my mother's bedside" Æthelflæd spoke with her head held high, "I've been trying to comfort her throughout this... _Illness_ she's been suffering"

"I'm sure she'll get through this Æthelflæd" Edward responded calmly yet slightly annoyed, "If she was gravely ill then she would be dead by now" 

Æthelflæd, disgusted and outraged by Edward's response, gave a stern yet angry expression before she addressed to Aldhelm, "Lord Aldhelm, could you please leave. I want to speak to my brother alone." Aldhelm nodded and left the company and when Lord Æthelhelm saw the intense state Æthelflæd was in, he realized what was coming and he spoke, "I'll take my leave as well..." When both the advisors left the hall, Edward and Æthelflæd were alone in the hall and intense stares were being exchanged between the two siblings. 

"Ever since the last day of the siege, you have not made any attempt to see our mother", Æthelflæd continued, "You have been too busy being king rather than being a son-"

" _Being_ a king is a duty", Edward interrupted as he made more excuses, "I have to listen to the lords and make plans to fortify Wessex and East Anglia-" Though Æthelflæd had none of it, "Your duty right now is to watch and help our mother"

"That is of the healers' job" Edward pointed out, "I cannot-" 

Æthelflæd interrupted with her brows furrowed, "Edward, do you know why I'm still here in Wessex?" She continued without having Edward answering her, "I am here in Wessex to comfort our mother because I do not know when she'll take her last breath... She is dying, Edward... Slowly and painfully... I know you have not seen her, you have been avoiding her. You have been using your _'kingly duties'_ to excuse yourself from seeing our mother. I have been excusing myself from the witan's request back in Mercia to comfort our mother's last days... I have been doing my duty to be a true child to our mother and making sure that she knows that I'm there for her before she joins our father in heaven."

Æthelflæd took a step forward, "Edward, she needs you. Even though she can't physically say so, she needs you to know you're with her. If you must, hold her hand before she's gone from the earth!" After she exclaimed out loud to the King of Wessex, she let out a huge sigh and calmly spoke, "You're her only son, she has cared for you since you were born. Please return the favor and care for her..."

Silence came upon them. Edward did not know how to respond or defend himself. It was true that he hadn't made an effort to see Ælswith and comfort her. Though he couldn't bring the courage and humility to agree with Æthelflæd's truth. He was too stubborn and naive to even admit it. With his posture straightened and his face utterly stern, annoyed, and angrily, he only spoke two words, " _Goodnight, Æthelflæd_ " 

And just like that, he turned his back away from his elder sister who only stood there with great anger and disbelief. "I pray to God that our mother stays alive throughout the night before you regret not seeing her, speaking to her, or even comforting her in her great pain" Æthelflæd lastly spoke, "I hope our father in heaven forgives your decision because I cannot" 

There the children of Alfred the Great parted ways leaving their mother in her room suffering from the great poison that was slowly killing her... Even though the dream of England was coming true, the bond of family was drifting apart due to the suffering of a mother, the frustration of a daughter, and the cowardness of a son. 


	6. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈. ￩

~~~

_Winchester's Nunnery, Wessex_

𝐓𝐇𝐄 sun gently placed its rays on Anna's eyelids which fluttered from the brightness. As she slowly woke up from her bed, she sighed in relief and gave a little prayer to God how grateful she was to be inside of a building to sleep rather than sleeping on the streets or in the woods. Throughout the time Anna became a vagabond healer, she would sleep outside due to carrying little money for sleeping in an inn. She was lucky if she was invited to sleep in the stables or having a tent set up for her by some of the locals. But most of the time, Anna would sleep outside due to constantly traveling one place to the next. 

As she got up from the bed, she found a fresh folded blue dress on the end of the bed and wondered who placed it there. Maybe it was Abbess Hild who gave her a new dress or even maybe one of Uhtred's men who bought it for her?... She did not know, but she was grateful for whoever gave her the new dress. When she got dressed, she looked at her golden broach and memories flooded her mind again. Her long yet delicate fingertips gently brushed the pinned golden dragon that was being stabbed by a silver warrior. Memories of Agatha and her home was bittersweet to Anna...

~~~

_Wárhámtún, Cantwareburh, Cent..._ _Warhampton, Canterbury, Kent_

_Years previously_

**"** 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 Agatha!" Mari, the strawberry blond brat and little sister of Anna, ran to the Lady of Wárhámtún along with another girl. But as they got closer, they noticed not just Lady Agatha in the court garden's but King Alfred and the Lady Ælswith were in the garden as well - talking to Agatha. It was known around the city and the manor that the King and his family were staying in Wárhámtún to survey the city - but Mari did not know that Agatha was in the King's company. 

Mari and her friend, Cwendar, stopped in their tracks with pale faces as the Lady Agatha, King Alfred, and the Lady Ælswith stared back at the children with worry. Agatha waved her hand to signal Mari and Cwendar to come forth, "Come, children, tell us what the matter is"

Mari and Cwendar moved forward with hesitation and bowed to the King and his wife. Agatha then introduced them to the ruling family of Wessex, "My Lord-King and Lady, this is Mari, one of my wards and this is Cwendar; Mari's friend and daughter of Cadda, one of the guards of Cantwareburh" 

After the small introduction of the family of Wessex and the children of Wárhámtún, the elderly lady knelt down to Mari's level and asked calmly, "Now, what is the matter?"

Dunthain and Deorstan wrestled each other in front of Saint Augustine's Abbey. Anna tried to intervene in the fight, but Dunthain's friends held her back and made her watch her dear friend getting beaten up by his elder brother. Anna wanted to yell and scream so that Father Theowine could help and stop the fight, but Fram covered her mouth while Hefric and Tordag held her arms apart so she wouldn't get away. But when Dunthain was going to give the final punch, Eorman, the head guard, broke the fight between his two nephews. 

Anna then felt the release of her wrists and mouth and saw the warriors of Wessex dragging the boys away from Anna. A gasp of air came back to the golden blond girl's lungs and her eyes darted to Lady Agatha and King Alfred who came to the scene. Her face paled both in horror and awe as she saw the King in the flesh. 

"What is the meaning of this?!" Eorman held his nephews' earlobes as his voice boomed across the frontcourt of the abbey, "Why are you fighting on holy ground and having Anna, the eldest ward of Lady Agatha and your Godsister, pinned against her will?!-" 

"I was defending her honor, uncle" Deorstan spoke up with a pant, "Dunthain didn't agree or acknowledge Anna's statement and told her _'that girls don't know what a king should be_ '-" 

That got Alfred's attention, his right brow rose and glanced between Dunthain and Anna and he began to wonder of what their philosophical discussion was that led to a brawl between brothers... He came in the middle between Eorman, his nephews, and Anna. He linked his fingers behind his back and asked, "Tell me, young Dunthain, what is the duty of a king?"

Anna wanted to roll her eyes since it felt like a loop over again. The discussion started with a question, then two answers, a disagreement, and a brawl. But since King Alfred was the one who reignited the discussion, the end results would be different than the last time. 

Dunthain answered as Eorman nudged him, "A king rules, he brings authority and power across the land-" But Anna interjected, "A king doesn't just do that-" 

After Anna said that, Alfred's eyes looked straight into the golden blond-haired girl's green orbs with a straight face. His body turned towards her and Anna became nervous. She then apologized looking down at the ground, "Sorry, Lord-King... I should have waited when it was my turn..." But Alfred gave a small yet unnoticed smile, "Apology accepted, Lady Anna"

Anna looked up at Alfred, "But I am no-" Alfred raised a hand to silence her. When he slowly lowered her hand, he then asked, "Lady Anna, Dunthain has a point - but you are right. A king does more than just bringing authority and power across his kingdom" He continued, "What do you argue with?" 

Anna slowly looked up at Alfred and responded with a more confident tone and stature, "A king serves his people, lord" She continued without missing a beat, "A king must know what his people needs. He must also lay down his life for the country and the people in order to secure them from what dangers could come and keep the kingdom alive for years to come... Even after death... Overall, kings are required to rule with humility..." Alfred was stunned by the young girl's stand to Dunthain's argument that he was speechless. 

But Anna continued her thesis with an example, "In the 'Book of Second Chronicles', King Solomon asked and prayed to God for wisdom with such humility: " _For You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge these great people of Yours?"_... God granted Solomon wisdom and knowledge in order to lead and serve his people, rather than gaining riches, revenge, or total power. Humility is how great kings are made..."

After Anna spoke, she noticed Father Theowine, her mentor and Godfather, standing a ways away from the crowd and realized that Theowine listened to the whole discussion between Alfred, Dunthain, and herself. She saw the small smile from her Godfather and realized that he approved her statement and was proud of her. Lady Ælswith, who stood next to Lady Agatha, stepped forward and asked, "Who is the mentor who taught this child this wisdom?" She continued in awe, "I have never heard a child like her before"

Alfred nodded in agreement with his wife, "Indeed..." 

Alfred studied Anna more and determined that she was no more than twelve years old. He could tell that her eyes were filled with wonderment and a yearning for learning - something that he too desired for his children to be interested in. "Yes, who is the mentor who taught this child?", King Alfred asked out loud in which Father Theowine stepped forth. 

"Lord-King, Lady Anna has been listening to my lectures for my students who are going into seminary" Theowine continued, "I know it is improper for a young girl, like herself, to participate in these kinds of lectures but Lady Anna has been begging to learn theology and philosophy for the past couple of months-"

"I've also been wanting to learn the art of healing and medicine-" Anna interrupted which led to Theowine glaring down at her with a disapproving look. Anna then shut her mouth and gave a small frown to herself, but Alfred wanted to smile a bit for hearing about a child who wanted to learn gave him hope for the overall future of Wessex and even England. 

"Sorry Lord-King, even though Lady Anna is talented in philosophical discussions, she hasn't learned the talent of patience" Theowine spoke as he placed a gentle hand on the young girl's shoulder. Even though Theowine never had a wife or child, Anna was the closest to having a child. He was proud to be her Godfather though, even with the flaws that the child had. 

"I have noted that", Alfred replied back. The king then looked down at Anna and back to Theowine, "If she were older, I would request her to join us at Winchester palace and meet my children" He then chuckled, "Maybe even teach my son and heir some of her wisdom and philosophy of ruling"

"Maybe one day, Lady Anna would become the wife of an ealdorman", Lady Ælswith added, "With such wisdom, an ealdorman would desire to have a wife next to his side-"

"Pardon, my lady" Anna spoke with certainty and sternness, "But I believe that being an ealdorman's wife isn't my calling" 

Lady Ælswith's brows furrowed in both confusion and curiosity of what calling this girl believes she has. She could want to go into the church and become a nun or abbess, but from Anna's stature, that was probably not what she would become. Alfred stepped forward to the girl and tilted his head, "You say you want to learn the arts of healing?" He continued with his hands folded in front of him, "Is being a healer your calling?" 

"Yes," Anna replied, "I believe that is my calling."

"Why is it your calling?" Alfred asked, "What makes you desire to become a healer?"

Anna gave a small yet sad smile and twined her hands together, "With all the pain and destruction in the world, especially in all of England, I want to help mend and heal people... I just want to help put a little good in this world again..."

Alfred couldn't but admire the young girl. In some ways, he wanted to adopt her and take her back to Winchester - but that was just mere fantasy in his eyes. He could see the grace and good-heartedness she had and wished that she could meet her dream... Though he was king... He could just...

"I admire this child's grace" Alfred spoke to the crowd that gathered in front of Saint Augustine's Abbey, "She is most definitely a child with ambition and wit... Which is why I am ordering her to learn the profession of healing. She will become a healer for not just Wessex, but for England as well" 

Applause erupted from the crowd and everything for Anna fast forward. She felt as if she could walk on air, joy was in her heart and was surprised that her destiny would come sooner than she thought. When Alfred and his wife left the crowd, along with the warriors of Wessex, Anna noticed Agatha who came to her with a sense of pride and sadness. 

Agatha knelt down to Anna and softly smiled, "Anna... You have no idea how proud I am... You are very strong, much like your mother..." She then reached in her pocket and took out a broach, "This broach belonged to my family for generations... Before our ancestors came here"

Agatha handed to broach Anna, "The broach is of my ancestor, Beowulf, and his bittersweet victory over the dragon-"

"Dragons are not real..." Right after Anna interrupted, Agatha rolled her eyes. The greying redhead lady replied, "Well demons are real, why not dragons?" Anna didn't have an argument to go against Agatha's word, but Anna noticed Agatha's emotion and fell silent. She knew that something was wrong...

Tears swelled in Agatha's eyes, "I want you to have it before you go..." 

Anna looked at Agatha and confusion set in, "I'm going?"

"Yes, child you are... You're going Cetham to learn how to be a healer..." Agatha said as she wiped her tears away, "The best healer I know lives there... He'll take care of you and make sure you learn everything from him..."

"Will I see you and my sisters again?", Anna asked innocently as she held the broach close to her heart... Moving away from the only family she knew was already hard for Anna to think about, but it was a reality that was going to happen. Though she already felt so torn that she would have to leave her own mother figure, the closest person to her, behind to follow her dreams and the king's order...

"I hope so, _Sun-Star_ " Agatha smiled, "I hope so... But if not, I hope you will remember me by this broach..."

~ ~ ~

_Present time_  
  


𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 sat in the dining hall with Uhtred and his men, alongside the Abbess Hild, and plainly looked at her food which reminded her of the meals that she had back in Wárhámtún and at Saint Augustine's Abbey. Without Anna's knowledge, Hild, who sat across from her, studied her and grew a bit worried if Anna was alright. Hild knew how hard it was to adjust from moving around and how her job affected her soul and mind, but she could only ask her, "Are you alright, Anna?"

Anna's head shot up from her clouds of thought and came back to reality, "Sorry, yes, I'm alright" She continued, "The food reminds me of home"

Hild then grew curious about Anna, her home, and maybe why she became a healer. Hild could only suspect that the healer was only in her early to mid-twenties; very young to be a master in healing. Hild then asked calmly but respectably, "Where's home for you, if you don't mind me asking?"

Anna smiled and sat up a bit in her chair, feeling a bit comfortable in Abbess Hild's presence due to the warm heart she radiated from her, "Cantwareburh, but I split my time between Wárhámtún and Saint Augustine's Abbey. But I then was sent to Cetham by the orders of my guardian and King Alfred"

Brows rose from the table, unknowingly to Anna, Uhtred was listening to Anna and Hild's conversation. Uhtred was intrigued by how a humbled ward met his former lord and siege and how Alfred ordered her to become a healer. 

"You met King Alfred?", Hild asked in a bit of surprise. But Anna chuckled as she stirred her food, "I was barely twelve years old when he came to Cantwareburh. Apparently, my sister told our guardian, who was King Alfred's host, about a little fight between me and a boy about our disagreement on how kings should rule"

"What was position on how a king should rule?", Uhtred asked as he became more and more intrigued by Anna's background. Anna glanced back at Uhtred and replied, "I told King Alfred that kings should rule by humility and serve the people, not just governing his kingdom and people... He seemed to like my answer." She then continued bringing back to the point about how Anna became a healer, "Anyway, I expressed to the king that I wanted to become a healer and not an ealdorman's wife like what the Lady Ælswith suggested... King Alfred liked my desire and ordered me to study the arts of healing..."

After a pause between Anna and the company she was in, she chuckled at the memory between her and the deceased king, "Before Alfred ordered me to become a healer, he wanted me to come to Winchester and meet his children - especially his son" She laughed a bit more, "I may not meet his children now, but here I am Winchester... Just like what he wanted those years ago"

Uhtred pointed his spoon towards Anna, "Fate has brought you here-"

"God has brought you here", Hild corrected Uhtred as he rolled his. Hild continued, "Lord Uhtred once served King Alfred for many years." Anna nodded with a bit of a brow raised, "Did you?"

"Yes... I did", Uhtred then got up from his seat, "Excuse me, I see Father Pyrlig and I believe a _certain_ abbess told him the news of my arrival" As Uhtred and his two other men, Finan and Sihtric, left the table to greet the priest, Hild smiled at Uhtred and glanced back at Anna, "Uhtred is a busy man when he arrives here in Winchester"

Anna nodded, "I have noticed" 

Osferth, who was still at the table, switched his spot and sat next to Hild, "You said you have a friend who just became a royal guard of Wessex?" Anna smiled at Osferth and answered with glee, "Yes, my childhood friend and Godbrother just became a royal guard from the letter I got a month ago"

In an instant, Hild's eyes shot up and look directly at Anna, "Is his name Deorstan?" 

Anna's eyes widen in shock and wondered about how did Hild figure that out. Did Hild have some God-given gift of foresight or something? Anna did not know, though she could only ask, "How did you know?"

"Deorstan usually spends times around the court and tries to flirt with my nuns" Hild replied in an annoyed tone with Anna laughing; knowing that Deorstan would do something like that. Hild continued, "From the conversations he had with them, he mentioned "a Godsister with God's power of healing" to them... I suspect that you're that "blessed healer" he keeps talking about?"

Anna rolled her eyes, "Of course he has to brag about me" She continued, "Deorstan loves boasting overexaggerated tales about his Godsisters"

"Sounds like a proud big brother", Osferth commented with a smile. Anna nodded with a wide smile, "Yes, he's the best big brother figure I've ever been blest with" She then looked at Hild, "Do you know if Deorstan is available outside of the palace?"

"I've seen him in the morning wandering in the streets" Hild replies, "He usually checks up with the local people and see how they are. I bet you can catch him right now before he's summoned back to the palace"

Anna nodded and began to leave her seat, "Alright, I then should be off-"

"Do you want to be escorted to the city?" Osferth asked kindly to Anna who also stood up at the same time as the healer. But Anna shook her head, "No, I will find my way. Thank you though"

Anna then turned to Hild and smiled, "Thank you for letting me stay for the night, I haven't slept on a proper bed for over a year now" Hild smiled back, "Well, you are always welcomed here. I am glad that Uhtred and his men brought a kind healer to Winchester" 

"I'm glad that I met the famous Abbess Hild" After Anna spoke, she was about to turn around and leave the two new friends at the table but then she remembered the new dress that she was given anonymously. She then faced Hild and Osferth and asked, "Before I leave, do you know who gave me this dress?" She continued, "I woke up and found this folded on the end of my bed"

Hild and Osferth shook their heads. "It may be one of the nuns here" Hild replied with uncertainty, "But other than that, I do not know" 

Anna softly nodded, "Well, if you do know who it is; tell them I said thanks. I haven't had any new clothes in a very long time" Anna then waved her hand and left, "Again, thank you for the hospitality." Then, the healer left the hall of the nunnery and went into the outside air to find her warrior friend.

~~~ 

𝐓𝐇𝐄 healer's green orbs wandered the streets trying to find her dear Godbrother and prayed that she didn't miss him. It was busy in the streets of Winchester and it was hard to even go through the crowds of people. Anna began to regret Osferth's offer and maybe hope she ran into him again or even Finan and Sihtric. But as she finally pushed her way out of the crowd, she found a place to sit on the steps of Winchester's palace and sighed out of relief that she was out of the busy streets and disappointed that she couldn't find Deorstan. 

Just when she started to relax, a shadow from above hovered her and a familiar voice came from it, "I suppose you're looking for a cheeky lad with a sword on his side, right?" 

Her head spun around and saw the recognizable raven-haired man that she'd had been looking for hours, "Deorstan!" She then jumped in his arms and was spun around. Anna felt as if she was home again in his arms as if she was a child again. She'd hadn't seen him for years due to her training as a healer and began her vagabond journey while Deorstan was training to be a warrior back in Cantwareburh and eventually Winchester. After their embrace, Anna and Deorstan studied each other and was surprised how similar and how different they've both aged. 

"Wow!" Anna exclaimed as she looked at him more, "You're definitely taller-"

"And a bit more handsome?" Deorstan playfully spoke. But Anna rolled her eyes, "Oh lord, you're still the same after all these years-"

But Deorstan interrupted as he held Anna's hands and studied her, "But look at you! You're taller, you're hair is much longer than it was before, and..." After when he paused, Anna furrowed her brows and tilted her head in curiosity of what he was going to say, "And what, Deorstan?" 

He then raised her hands higher, "You grew into a woman"

Anna's brows knitted together and her lower lip lowered to a confused pout, "A _woman_? Really?-"

"What? You've become a very beautiful young lady. Have any men told you that?" Deorstan asked as Anna laughed. "A few but only when they're drunk," Anna replied. After Deorstan released her hands, he began to wonder how long she was in Winchester and how did she end up in the capital of Wessex. 

"How did you get here?" Deorstan continued, "You must've raised enough silver to buy a horse by now?" Anna chuckled, "I did get enough silver to buy a horse, however, my horse was stolen two nights ago" She continued, "I came here with a group of men-"

"A group of men?" Deorstan interrupted with a tone of concern as if he was a protective elder brother; which he was in Anna's eyes. Anna reinsured him, "Don't worry, they are good and honorable men. If you want to know who they are, the leader of their group was Uhtred-"

"Uhtred of Bebbenburg?!" Deorstan exclaimed in shock which Anna was taken back by. With his reaction, Anna began to worry whether if that was a good thing that she met him or not. But Deorstan spoke, "You rode with him to Winchester? He's a legend!"

Anna replied, "I didn't know, I only knew he served under King Alfred for a time..."

But Deorstan laughed, realizing that Anna knew nothing about Uhtred and his great deeds in Wessex and even all of England. "You're lucky", Deorstan shook his head, "I've been in Winchester for almost six months and never met any legendary kings or warriors... But my Godsister met _Uhtred Uhtredsson_..."

After that, Anna looked at the palace and admired it for a bit, "The palace looks very beautiful..." Deorstan looked at the palace as well and grinned a bit, "Roman-built... Just like some of the buildings in Cantwareburh..." Then an idea came into Deorstan's mind, his eyes widen and a smile came to his lips, "What if I can give you a private tour around the palace?"

Anna furrowed her brows, "Is that even allowed?" She continued, "Wouldn't you get in trouble by the head guard?" Deorstan's eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief and his brow rose with a grin, "Not if we get caught. Just act professionally as if you work in the palace and no one will question you or I"

A wide yet child-like smile came to Anna's lips. This moment brought her back that time she and Deorstan were children and ventured into places in Saint Augustine's Abbey that they were forbidden to go into. 

~~~

 **Æ** 𝐋𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 laid on her bed, sweat-drenched her nightgown, and breathing for her became harder and harder. She wasn't conscious of her surroundings. The head physician, Fastgan, watched his pupil and healers try to heal the Lady Ælswith with all the tonics and herbs they could use on her. Though nothing was working... They worked hard every day to heal her for the past month, but they could only try and keep her comfortable before she would eventually past away. 

"Master", Ordlac called to the physician, "We've just stabilized her breathing"

"Good", Fastgan continued as he looked to the older healing woman, "Adgith, I think we should-"

Then, out of nowhere and in horror, Lady Ælswith started spuing up blood from her nose and mouth and her body became in a state of shock. She began to shake violently and the blood was everywhere. The four healer women were horrified and Ordlac tried his best to hold Ælswith down along with Fastgan. After a solid minute of Ælswith's episode of shock, Tova, the youngest of the healers, was drenched in blood from her face all the way to her hands. She ran out of the room and rushed to find a pot to puke in. 

A maid who saw this dropped her fresh sheets to the ground and trotted her way to Tova. The maid's brown braided hair swayed as she ran and knelt to Tova, "Tova, what happened?"

Tova didn't answer, she could only look at the door that she ran out of and the maid realized what had happened. "I'll find Lady Æthelflæd, if not I'll bust through the king's hall doors" 

The maid got up and started to run through the halls and tried to find Æthelflæd. She was bumping into the other maids and servants. Her voice boomed across the hall, "Out of my way, I need to find Lady Æthelflæd!" But as she turned the corner, she bumped into a guard and fell to the ground, "Watch where you're going you arseling!" 

Deorstan who was taken back by the maid's aggressive tone tried to help her up, "Sorry Leofbled, maybe you need to-" But Leofbled snapped back, "Don't start that with me! I don't need that right now, Deorstan! I need to find Lady-" 

Leofbled then looked at the golden blond woman next to Deorstan who seemed worried and startled by Leofbled's expression and emotion. "Who the hell is this?" Leofbled asked, "Is she another girl you've been-"

"No!" Deorstan stopped her, "She's my Godsister, the healer I told you about." Deorstan then quickly introduced Anna to Leofbled, "Anna, this is Leofbled daughter of warrior-"

Leofbled rolled her eyes and started to walk away, "I need to get going-"

"What happened?" Deorstan asked knowing that something was in trouble. Leofbled stopped in her tracks and turned back to Deorstan and Anna, "It's Lady Ælswith, Tova ran out of her room covered in blood-"

"What?" Anna asked in worry, "What happened? Why is she sick?" 

But Deorstan hummed and lowered his head and tone in his voice with seriousness, "Lady Ælswith has been sick ever since the Winchester siege... She hasn't recovered since..." 

Anna began to wonder and worried what was causing Lady Ælswith to be this violently ill and whether if she should step in and help. But Deorstan watched Anna's expression and read her thoughts, his chest puffed out and held her right forearm, "Anna, I know what you're thinking. This is way over your head. If you do get involved, you'll be dealing with royal affairs that could cost you your-?"

"Life?" Anna finished his sentence but Deorstan shook his head. Deorstan then continued, "It may, but I'm worried about the cost of your freedom..." Anna then nudged Deorstan's grip off of her forearm and took a step back, "Life isn't free, and freedom isn't all about living..."

Anna looked at Leofbled and asked, "Where's Lady Ælswith's quarters?" Leofbled replied, "Down the right hall and all the way to the left and you'll find Lady Ælswith's quarters." Anna nodded and swiftly went on her way leaving Leofbled and Deorstan. Leofbled then walked forward to Deorstan, "Tova is down that hall too, bring her with me so Lady Æthelflæd could see and understand what stake her mother is in."

"What about the king?" Deorstan asked as he made his way to Tova. But Leofbled eyes rolled back, "It's no secret that he's been not interested in his mother's health anymore."

~~~

𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 Æthelflæd walked with Aldhelm in the garden and watched Edward talk to the lords of Wessex. Her anger grew by the day towards her brother and couldn't bear to talk to him anymore. She was equally annoyed and angry with his advisor, Æthelhelm, and knew that he was to blame in Edward's role. She figured out through the days and nights that he was influencing his rule - as if he was playing the master behind the puppet show. 

"Should I stay angry at him, Aldhelm? At my own younger brother?", Æthelflæd asked as she stood a ways away from her brother. Aldhelm sighed and knew that he wasn't the dictator of Æthelflæd's emotions and feelings towards her king-brother. With his hands behind his back, he replied, "I cannot answer that, that is between you and the conflict you have with him"

Æthelflæd hummed at Aldhelm's response with her arms crossed and her fingers barely touching her chin, "Then pray for me... Pray to God that I have the grace to forgive him and his ignorance-" But in mid-sentence, Deorstan ran up to the ruling lady of Merica and her advisor, "My Lady, there's something you need to see"

Aldhelm looked at the raven-haired Wessex guard and spoke, "Should you confront the king about any conflict in the palace?-" But Deorstan interrupted, "Pardon me Lord, but I don't think my king is currently interested in the Lady Ælswith's health anymore" 

Æthelflæd's eyes widen and her arms dropped to her side and shifted her body more towards Deorstan, "Show me"

When Deorstan guided Æthelflæd and Aldhelm to the healer Tova and Leofbled, Æthelflæd halted herself when she saw Tova all bloodied up. She could only assume that it was her mother's blood. Her hands went up to her mouth and covered her lips, tears swelled in her eyes, "Is she?-"

"No lady, she is not dead" Tova responded nervously with tears coming down her face, "But she is fading quicker than what we initially thought." Leofbled who had a wet cloth began to clean Tova's face with comfort, "Shh, Tova..."

Æthelflæd took a step back and emotion was running through her veins. She was about to fall to her knees until Aldhelm caught her by her elbows. Little did they know Deorstan watched Anna yanking at the purple flowers that were in the garden and started to stuff them in her pocket. Deorstan ran up to Anna and took her forearm, "Anna, what are you doing? You're going to have the lords and even the king look at you!" 

Anna briefly glanced at the crowd of lords around the king before looking at her elder brother figure, "Ælswith isn't sick, she has been poisoned!" She continued, "I'm surprised that she's still alive! These flowers are supposed to kill a child within a day-"

"How do you know she's been poisoned?" Deorstan questioned her in a stern tone, "What is your proof?" Anna replied in a serious tone as well, "There was a child in Leyland who accidentally poisoned herself by eating theses. She had the same symptoms and I had to make a tonic to reverse the symptoms. It saved her life." 

Deorstan shook her head, "Why would Danes poison her?" But Anna rolled her eyes, "I doubt Danes poisoned her, Danes rather chop her into pieces than poisoning her. If you're going to ask me to guess, it was either herself that she poisoned or someone in her company of captures poisoned her." 

Just as she said that Deorstan looked up at the Lord Æthelhelm and saw him looking back at Deorstan and Anna. Deorstan glared at him and looked down at Anna, "Go. Make that tonic, I'm going to inform Lady Æthelflæd" 

Anna nodded and began to run back to the hall she ventured in and Deorstan trotted his way to Æthelflæd, Aldhelm, Tova, and Leofbled. Aldhelm, who helped Æthelflæd to a chair, walked forward to Deorstan, "Leofbled told me that the golden-haired girl is a healer"

Deorstan nodded, "Her name is Anna, she's a vagabond healer and a close friend of mine" He continued, "She told me that Lady Ælswith isn't sick, she has been poisoned"

Aldhelm raised a brow in uncertainty, "Poisoned? How is she sure?"

"She told me that she saw the same symptoms in the past when a child at the purple flowers like what the palace has" Deorstan explained more, "She is making a tonic as we speak. It should slow the poison and reverse the damage"

Aldhelm began to think and ponder on why and who would poison the widow of King Alfred, "Dane's do not poison their prisoners"

"Anna said the same," Deorstan replied, "She said either Lady Ælswith poisoned herself or someone who was captive with her poisoned her..." Æthelflæd, who was listening to the conversation, looked up to Deorstan and Aldhelm with puffy eyes and dried tears, "Æthelhelm and Ælfflæd?"

Deorstan shrugged but his tone was quiet and deep as he looked at the Lady of Mercia, "Possible... _Possible_..."

Æthelflæd then stood up from her seat with her shoulders back and stern expression, "Let us go to my mother's room and see whether if this Anna is right that my mother has been poisoned" 

Aldhelm then asked, "Are you saying that she may be false about her diagnosis?" But Æthelflæd shook her head, "I believe she is right. However, if Anna proves to us that my mother is poisoned by someone in court, I believe my mother may be in more danger than we thought." 

A moment of silence came upon them and Æthelflæd looked at the newly made guard with worry, "I am afraid that your friend may also be in danger as well... She is the one who solved my mother's _"illness"_ , she would be the first one to be attacked by the perpetrators. She is the obstacle between my mother's attempted homicide..."

Deorstan knew that this was going to happen. He warned Anna and now she was in a lot more trouble and danger than they both thought. He regretted bringing his Godsister to the palace. He regretted actually seeing her in Winchester. He wished and prayed for a miracle that something would help and save Anna from the upcoming danger that she was going to face. Maybe he could find someone who could take her away to a safe haven from the dangers of Winchester and Wessex?... Maybe... Maybe... He then whispered to himself in his deepest thoughts a name that could be Anna's only hope, _"Uhtred..."_


	7. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈𝐈. ￩

~~~

_Outside of Ælswith's quarters, Winchester_

𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐆𝐀𝐍 paced back and forth outside of the Lady Ælswith's quarters. He waited for any authority to come and stop the blond stranger who kicked them out of the room. He was frustrated and pondered why the young woman told him that Ælswith was poisoned. _'If she was'_ , Fastgan continued as he talked to himself, _'Then surely the Lady would be dead by now?'_

Fastgan then looked at his pupil, Ordlac, and the two other healers: Trewgifu and Olfete. He noticed how tired they were and through these difficult days, their faces seemed to be sunken in as if they aged another ten to twenty years. However, during the time he studied their faces, he noticed that Tova, the newest of the healers was gone. He could only suspect that she went to tell Lady Æthelflæd what happened during the time she was in Ælswith's quarters. As Fastgan brushed his graying head out of stress, he heard multiple footsteps coming in his direction. He looked up and saw Lady Æthelflæd, her advisor and guard Aldhelm, and the new guard of Wessex who he believed his name was Deorstan. 

"Lady Æthelflæd" Fastgan continued, "Thank goodness you're here, a strange woman healer barged in Lady Ælswith's quarters and-"

Æthelflæd interrupted him, "She came in my orders." She continued as she half-lied to the court physician, "Anna of Cantwareburh told Deorstan, the guard of Wessex, about the symptoms of my mother's _illness_ and that the only way to heal her was to give her a tonic that would reverse the symptoms"

Fastgan furrowed his brows, he questioned about this girl, Anna, and if she was really a healer and not some lunatic who barged in and shooing the royal healers out of Alfred's widow's room. He then asked, "My lady, how do you know this _Anna of Cantwareburh_ is an actual healer and not some poor barber-surgeon?"

Deorstan tilted his head hearing the accusing speculation from the royal physician, "She is not a poor barber-surgeon, I can tell you that!" He continued in a defensive tone, "At the age of twelve, she was ordered by King Alfred to study the arts of healing. I, my uncle Eorman, the Guard of Kent, Father Theowine of Saint Augustine Abbey, and even the Lady Ælswith was there when King Alfred gave her orders! She was trained with the best in all of England and now roams around England- even _Daneland_ out of all places - just to heal people because she believes that with all the pain in this land she could help a bit by mending it again!" 

Deorstan then gasped for air, releasing all his frustration out. His frustration was more than just Fastgan accusing Anna of being some lower status healer, he was worried about her safety after realizing how much in danger she was. Thoughts of her being killed by Lady Ælswith's attempted killer was one he couldn't bear to comprehend. He had just reunited with her and now he felt as if he was to blame for her future death. He took a small step back before he looked at Lady Æthelflæd. Æthelflæd seemed sort of taken back by Deorstan's words and his defensiveness for Anna's honor as a healer. 

Deorstan then cleared his throat and almost trembled a bit, "Sorry my lady, Anna is like a sister to me and her heart is very good. She would not mean any harm to anyone and just wants to help-"

"Now that you mention more about Anna, I do remember a bit" Lady Æthelflæd interrupted as she switched the conversation a bit, "My mother and father spoke about a young girl back in Cantwareburh and how she desired to learn..." Æthelflæd couldn't really believe that when Deorstan told Anna's story to the group in the hallway that she was the same girl who Alfred spoke of to her and Edward all those years ago... She then switched the conversation, "Fastgan, fear not, I believe this guard's word and if this tonic does fail, I will take the blame" 

Fastgan nodded and Æthelflæd then ordered the healers, "You all must rest, I know how hard you've worked" She continued, "If there is more trouble with my mother, I will call upon you if need be" After her orders, the group of healers left and the hallway only consisted Æthelflæd, Aldhelm, and Deorstan. Æthelflæd looked at the door and peered through it and saw Anna setting the small bottle down (which she assumed to be the tonic) and gently laid a damp towel across Ælswith's forehead. 

As Anna pressed the towel gently on Ælswith's head, she closed her eyes and began to pray in a whisper, " _Father, it is through your power that I was created. Every breath I take, every morning I wake, and every moment of every hour, I live under your power... Father, I asked you now to touch the Lady Ælswith with that same power. For if you created us from nothing, you can certainly recreate us - especially Lady Ælswith and those who are suffering still. Fill Lady Ælswith with your power of healing and your holy spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in her. Mend what is broken, rebuild her, cleanse her. Restore her to full health in mind and body so that she may serve you all the rest of her earthly life. In your name, Amen..."_

Anna, with her free hand, crossed herself after she ended the prayer. Æthelflæd was touched by Anna's prayer, she certainly knew that Anna was of good nature and began to believe more on Deorstan's word. When Æthelflæd began to open the door, Anna turned her head towards the door and saw Deorstan who stood behind the lady and another man who she suspected to be Æthelflæd and her advisor. Anna stood up from her seat and held both of her hands in front of her. Deorstan then stepped in and began to introduce Anna to the ruler of Mercia, "Anna, this is the Lady Æthelflæd of Mercia"

Anna then bowed her head which followed down to a curtsy. Æthelflæd was taken back by her formal greeting gesture, she glanced at Aldhelm who seemed a bit impressed by Anna's gracious bow, and back to Anna who was still curtsying. "Please, arise" Æthelflæd continued as Anna stood back up, "I want to thank you for solving my mother's ill health, what you have done means a lot"

Anna calmly responded with her hands still folded together, "All I wanted was to help. Even though I may be a stranger, an unwelcome guest to this mighty hall, I do not want people to suffer whatever illness they are dealing with.. And so I wanted to help Lady Ælswith... No one deserves to be poisoned especially her" 

Æthelflæd gave a small smile to Anna and moved a tad bit closer towards Anna's direction, "To my knowledge, my brother does not know you're here or who you are... When he discovers, he may not want you in the palace. But I can assure you, Anna, you are most welcome in Mercia and especially in Aegelesburg."

A small sense of silence filled the air before a small noise from Ælswith's lips came in. It wasn't a moan nor the groan of pain, but a hum of peace. Anna and Æthelflæd came closer to Ælswith's bedside and sat close to the widow of Alfred. Æthelflæd kept staring at her mother and asked the golden-haired healer, "This tonic you gave to my mother, it worked successfully in the past?"

"Yes," Anna answered with confidence, "A young girl was saved by this tonic when she ate the same purple flowers that your mother ingested... Hopefully, she will make a full recovery in two days if not tomorrow." 

Æthelflæd nodded, "Good..." But after Æthelflæd acknowledged Anna's confidence in the medicine, Æthelflæd noticed Deorstan's fidgeted state. She could read his eyes and knew that Deorstan wanted Anna to leave Winchester due to her being a high target to her mother's supposed attempted murderer. Æthelflæd then looked at Anna, "Anna, tonight I would like you to watch my mother's health but before you do, your friend Deorstan wants to discuss something important..." 

Anna's eyes flickered with worry, "Is anything wrong?"

Silence filled the air and Anna looked to Deorstan who awaited her at the door. Æthelflæd and Aldhelm did not answer verbally but their eyes told her to go with Deorstan. Anna stood up from her seat and walked toward Deorstan who guided her out of the room. When Deorstan closed the door, Anna began to ask, "What's wrong? Did I do?-"

Deorstan interrupted Anna with a tone of stress, "Anna, I do not like saying _'I told you so'_ to you but..." Deorstan tried his best to hold back his emotions, though tears trickled down his face. Anna then took her sleeve and helped wipe away the young guard's tears. But Deorstan stopped her and held her wrist, "Anna, there is a high chance that you're in danger. Æthelflæd, Aldhelm, and I believe Lady Ælswith was poisoned by Lord Æthelhelm who was also a prisoner with her"

Anna furrowed her brows, "The King's father-in-law? Why would he poison her?"

"They've been rivals to be advisors of the King" Deorstan explained, "Lord Æthelhelm is not a man you want to cross in Winchester. He has power and with that power, he can take people away from his path and Anna; you're in his way. You just saved Lady Ælswith's life, you're the obstacle now and Æthelhelm would most likely kill you-"

"You don't know that" Anna responded defensively, "You don't know Lord Æthelhelm poisoned Lady Ælswith, you have no proof" Anna did not want to get into this, however like what Deorstan said earlier, she was now dealing with royal affairs that have major consequences in the future. Deorstan lifted his head higher, "Anna, I do not care if you will hate me for this, but when you're released from Lady Ælswith's healing; I will send you away from here for your own protection"

"For my own protection?" Anna furrowed her brows feeling as if she was insulted. Deorstan continued with a glare of seriousness, "I cannot have you stay here. It was my fault for letting you in the palace and if you die, then I am the one to blame." Anna, who was still in Deorstan's grasp, pulled herself away from him. She knew that he was right, but she did not want to admit to it. On the other hand, she felt sorry for Deorstan. Anna knew in Deorstan's eyes, he was anxious, worried, and fearful for Anna. The young healer did not want to argue with him for it was like arguing with a brother - she did not want to break that bond. 

Anna sighed and briefly looked at the ground before looking directly into Deorstan's eyes, "If it gives you more comfort, I will leave the palace. Though I do not know where I will go-"

"I will talk to Uhtred" Deorstan quickly responded, "He brought you here and, if God willing, he and his men may take you to Uhtred's estate in Coccham. It's far away enough from Winchester and you'll be safe." Anna pondered Deorstan's idea and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't harm anyone if Deorstan just asks Uhtred for her potential protection. Anna crossed her arms and sighed, "All right, if you want to try and make the arrangements, you have my permission"

Deorstan gave Anna a small smile and kissed her forehead, "Thank you Anna, I'll go to him right now." And with that, Deorstan walked away from Anna and went on a mission to find Lord Uhtred and plea to him for Anna's safety. Anna, with her arms still crossed, saw Lady Æthelflæd and Aldhelm leave Lady Ælswith's quarters. Æthelflæd nodded to Anna and signaled her to go back into the room. Anna walked to Ælswith's quarters still pondering about the many scenarios of what would happen if she stayed or leave... Though in her heart, something told her that now she may never leave if the accusations of Lady Ælswith's poisoning were true.

~~~

𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐅𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐃 cleaned her blood-stained hands from the running water faucet against the palace walls. As she cleaned her hands, she began to wonder about her deceased father that she never knew. She only heard from her mother's stories about the times he served in the same palace years before Leofbled was even born. She wondered how well of a swordsman he was and how brave he may be. Surely she had the same rough spirit like him, Leofbled knew that she wasn't as soft like her mother Æbbe... Right when she was drying her hands on an old rough towel, she noticed Deorstan walking faster than he usually would. The dark brunette grew curious and walked to him and spoke in a semi-playful tone, "On a quest _Lord Deortan_?"

Deorstan rolled his eyes a bit before he answered, "Anna gave me her permission to speak to Uhtred on whether he could take her away from Winchester" He continued as he and Leofbled began to leave the palace, "I fear that she's now in grave danger since she saved Lady Ælswith from being poisoned." Leofbled thought for a moment and remembered that her mother told her about her father and how he befriended Uhtred. To her, maybe this was a pathway to know who her father was?... She then responded, "I'm coming with you" 

Deorstan raised an eyebrow, he knew exactly why Leofbled wanted to see Uhtred. Ever since he first met Leofbled, Deorstan was told that she was the only illegitimate child of one of the warriors of Wessex. Leofbled often spoke about how much she wished she wasn't a maid but a warrior and feel like she had a purpose in this world. Deorstan had sympathy for the young woman and so he didn't argue for her following him, "All right, but if you start a fight in the alehouse, you're on your own"

Leofbled smirked at the thought of her fist fighting, "I mean I do have an excuse of who I want to fight"

Deorstan furrowed his black eyebrows, "Who?"

"That Irish bastard who knocked me over when I had perfectly clean sheets" Leofbled continued, "That was six months ago and I haven't forgotten since"

Deorstan choked in mid-chuckle, "Finan? Uhtred's man?"

"Aye, that's him" Leofbled confirmed as they got closer to the alehouse, "Or as I like to call him: _'Mick the Mucker'_..." 

Deorstan tilted his head and squinted his eyes shut. He was trying to hold his laugh in but instead, he took a deep breath and began to focus on the real agenda other than Leofbled's rants of Finan and the mishaps of clean bedsheets. Deorstan and Leofbled entered into the darken alehouse and searched for Uhtred and his men. Leofbled then tapped Deorstan's shoulder and pointed to the corner of the room where Uhtred and his men were laughing and drinking. Deorstan nodded at Leofbled and the pair both started to walk towards Uhtred who actually noticed Deorstand and Leofbled. 

Once Uhtred noticed the unfamiliar figures, then his men started to notice as well. The group became quiet as their laughter started to die down. Deorstan then addressed, "Lord Uhtred"

"Yes, what do you want?" Uhtred asked the young guard of Wessex. "I'm Deorstan, Anna's friend and Godbrother" Deorstan continued, "I wanted to thank you for bringing Anna here-"

Uhtred then noticed Leofbled who stood next to Deorstan. He noticed something familiar about her, mostly in the eyes and a bit in the way she presented herself. He interrupted Deorstan and addressed to Leofbled, "You look familiar, do I know you?" Finan also noticed her and remembered Leofbled from six months ago and the unpleasant interaction they had the last time. Finan remembered the interaction; he at the palace jogging back to Uhtred when he accidentally knocked down the maid who was carrying a pile of clean sheets for Queen Ælflæd. He also remembered the unpleasant yelling and aggressiveness Leofbled displayed to him. After that, he thought the palace maid was a lunatic. He, stiff in his spot and whispered to herself, "Oh god no, it's her..."

Leofbled who heard Finan's whisper responded back to Uhtred, "No Lord, you do not know me. However, your man, Finan, remembers me quite perfectly..." 

Tension rose between the Irishman and the maid of Wessex. Deorstan rolled his eyes and took Leofbled's arm, "Leofbled, I told you-"

Uhtred's brows knitted together and pieces of the familiar girl came together in his mind. Osferth also noticed something familiar about Leofbled, though he was much quieter than the rest of the company in the corner of the room. Leofbled then shoved Deorstan's hand off her and took a deep sigh, "I know, I know... Sorry"

Deorstan turned back to Uhtred and restarted his conversation with him, "As I was saying, I wanted to thank you for bringing Anna here. I haven't seen her in a long time" Uhtred nodded, "Anna is a good woman, a very kind soul" 

Deorstan then responded as he took a small step forward, "She is... However, there's something that has happened back in the palace that I would like to discuss with you... It revolves around Anna..." Uhtred became intrigued and wondered how Anna got into some sort of drama in the palace. _'Did she do something that got her into trouble and what kind of trouble?',_ Uhtred thought to himself. 

Uhtred then showed Deorstan and Leofbled their seats in which they both took and the rest of the company huddled around so that no one from the outside could hear. Deorstan then explained, "It was my fault really, I took her to the palace for a tour and well... We ran into Leofbled and heard about the commotion with Lady Ælswith's health. Anna stepped in, which I told her not to, and discovered that Lady Ælswith was poisoned..."

"Poisoned?", Uhtred questioned.

Deorstan confirmed, "Yes, poisoned. When she told me, she explained that she either poisoned herself or someone in her company in imprisonment poisoned her."

"Could it have been the Danes?" Osferth opened up an old suggestion but Deorstan shook his head, "No, Danes don't usually poison their victims. I discussed it with Aldhelm-" Uhtred tilted his head and was surprised by the small news that reached his ears, "Aldhelm? Is Lady Æthelflæd here?" Deorstan nodded, "Yes, Lady Æthelflæd is still here. She hasn't left Winchester since the siege..."

"She should be back in Merica and organize her country-" When Uhtred rambled a bit, Deorstan stopped him, "I know, we've been getting constant letters from the Merican witan that she needs to be back in Aegelesburg. But when her mother fell ill, Lady Æthelflæd has been by her side..." 

A deep sigh of frustration upon Uhtred's lips, but Uhtred knew he couldn't discuss more of Æthelflæd. This conversation was about Anna and the conflict she is facing. So, Uhtred let Deorstan continue the story, "When Anna told me about the poisoning, Lord Æthelhelm eavesdropped in Anna's conversation"

Things started to click into Uhtred's mind, he knew where this was going. He started to understand that this boy-guard was going to ask Uhtred to protect Anna because of her being a threat to Lord Æthelhelm's potential plan is he actually poisoned Lady Ælswith. Uhtred now knew the whole story, "So, Lord Æthelhelm poisoned Lady Ælswith and since Anna thwarted his plans, you want me to protect Anna because she's in potential danger?"

Deorstan's eyes widen a bit in surprise, "Yes... How did you?-"

"Lad, he's been serving kings and saving people since before you were even born" Finan responded to Deorstan's surprise, "At this rate, he could read anyone's minds."

Small chuckles escaped the air and Uhtred wondered if Anna knew about Deorstan's request, "Does Anna know about you meeting me?" Deorstan answered, "Yes, she was stubborn at first, but she gave me permission to talk to you about this..." 

Uhtred leaned back in his seat, "What do I get in return, boy?" Deorstan furrowed his brows, "You want me to pay you?" Uhtred explained, "Well since you're offering us a job to be your Godsister's bodyguards, we would suspect to be paid in some way?" 

Deorstan did not think this plan through. What was he going to do? How was he going to pay Uhtred and his men? He thought for a minute and began to think of his inheritance that his father gave him, "I can give you nine-thousand pieces of silver"

Finan's eyes widen, "Nine-thousand?"

"It's my inheritance", Deorstan explained, "My father was a very wealthy man, our family were merchants for many generations and now I'm giving my inheritance up to protect the woman who I deem as my sister..." Uhtred's eyes soften and saw the fear in his eyes. He knew that this boy was serious, Deorstan wanted to protect her as much as possible. He admired the boy a little and before Uhtred could respond, Leofbled budded in, "I can also offer you my service, Lord Uhtred"

Uhtred was taken back a little and looked directly at the dark brunette woman, "Why do I need a palace maid?" 

But Leofbled responded confidently, "Because I'm the bastard daughter of a friend you lost many years ago" Leofbled took a deep breath, "Leofric was my father..." 

Silence filled the room and Uhtred was in shock. Now he realized why this young girl looked so familiar to him because she resembled a part of Leofric. Her eyes, her mannerisms, she inherited parts of Leofric in her. Osferth knew also that Leofbled resembled his uncle, it felt very unreal that a secret bastard daughter of his uncle existed in this world. Leofbled broke the silence and spoke, "I was born months after the Battle of Ethandun, my mother and father were in a secret relationship. She was in a noble family and when Leofric died, she discovered she was with child, she was disinherited and was sent to a nunnery in which I was born... That's why you haven't heard of me, not even Leofric knew about my existence..." 

Finan, who had some doubts about her story, didn't believe her due to the tension he had with her in the past, "Um Lord? Even though I never knew the man, what if this maid is lying?" 

Leofbled's face turned sour and she faced the Irishman with her index finger pointed out and leaned against the table, "Look you arseling, the only person who is lying will be you when my fist meets your face on this alehouse floor." Finan widened his eyes with his mouth partly open, almost in shock of her threat. For a small woman, she was incredibly feisty and had a very strong sense of personality. 

Uhtred couldn't help but smile and admire the maid. He knew that Leofbled was in fact the daughter of his dear friend, and so, he spoke, "She is most definitely Leofric's daughter, she clearly has inherited his spirit." He then turned to Leofbled, "I know clearly that your destiny is not to be a maid for the rest of your life. You wish to serve me?"

Leofbled nodded, "Yes"

"Good", Uhtred then turned to Deorstan, "I'll take the girl and one-forth of your silver"

Deorstan smiled widely, he could not believe that his plan worked out. He began to think that without Leofbled being in his company, he would probably not find a way to keep Anna safe. He was truly grateful. But then he thought of something as well, "Lord, I will offer you my service"

Uhtred tilted his head and furrowed his brows, "But you just became a guard of Wessex"

"I know but I believe my fate lies with Anna's path" The raven-haired young man continued, "It always has been since the day I became Anna's Godbrother-"

"Then who will notify us of any news of the palace?" Finan asked Deorstan with concern, "If your friend is in danger, who else will tell us about other dangers in Winchester?"

Once Finan asked Deorstan about certain concerns about his absence at the palace, Deorstan looked at Uhtred's other man, Sihtric, and remembered something that seemed important for him to hear, "Are you Starkaðr's father?"

Sihtric creased his brows together and was curious how he knew his only son, "Yes, do you know him?"

"I do actually", Deorstan continued, "He's in mid training on becoming a guard, he had to change his name and be baptized in order join-" A groan escaped Sihtric's lips, but Deorstan continued, "He goes by _'Swithin'_ in the palace, but if I talk to him, he can be another eye for us in the palace. I know Starkaðr would agree and help if need be."

Uhtred saw the annoyance in Sihtric's eyes and humorously sympathized with Sihtric since he faced the same with his eldest son. Uhtred put a hand on Sihtric's shoulder with a small chuckle, "It seems we both have difficult sons now"

Sihtric rolled his eyes and began to lean his head on his hand which was propped on the table, "Yes Lord, I believe we do..."

Uhtred turned to Deorstan and began to realize how oblivious Edward was and the silent turmoil that was unraveling in his palace, "Is Edward this oblivious of what is happening right now?"

Deorstan sighed and explained, "Edward has been distancing himself from his family and the people in the palace in order to succeed in securing Wessex and East-Anglia. Furthermore, he's been listening more to the nobles than the people... I do not really know more about what goes inside his mind..."

~~~

𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 sat in the Reading Room, studying maps and contemplating on how he and his army could protect the boarders of both Wessex and East-Anglia from future invaders of Northmen and other unwanted people who wish for England to burn. Just as he was studying, Æthelflæd walked into the room with a face of seriousness. Edward looked up and asked, "Are you here to criticize me more?"

Æthelflæd, still with her heart being angry at her younger brother, kept a calm composure, "I wanted to update you about our mother's health if you're willing to listen"

The king knew that if protested or argue about the last time he and Æthelflæd had this conversation, the end result would be a lot worse between them than it was in the past. Edward nodded and let Æthelflæd explain the current state of their mother, "Our mother is getting well now"

Edward's eyes widen in shock, it wasn't out of displeasure but by the miracle that their mother was finally healing. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh of gladness, "This is good news," He then asked, "Do you know what Fastgan find of what mother was suffering with?" Æthelflæd, who was a bit surprised at Edward's interest with their mother, then replied as she moved away from the door of the Reading room, "Uh, well actually someone else discovered why she was ill"

Edward tilted his head and grew curious about who his mother's savior was, "Who?"

Æthelflæd took a step closer and explained the whole situation and who Anna was, "Her name is Anna, she's not from the palace nor Winchester, she's a vagabond healer-"

"How did she get inside the palace?" Edward questioned as he crossed his arms. He knew that people who weren't of noble or any high status were usually turned away from the palace. Æthelflæd continued, "She was brought in by a friend who happens to be your city guard. Anna took it upon herself to investigate our mother's illness. She discovered that she was poisoned by the purple flowers from the gardens." 

Edward's eyes widen by the unexpected news, he surely knew that during the siege that Sigtryggr would have not poisoned Ælswith or anyone that was imprisoned with her. It was not Sigtryggr's way, "Surely Sigtryggr was not the one who poisoned our mother?" Æthelflæd shook her head, "No. The guard Deorstan, Aldhelm, and I believe that our mother wasn't poisoned by him or any of the Danes-" Edward interrupted in a slight forceful tone, "Then who do you accuse of poisoning our mother?"

Æthelflæd, calmly yet seriously, suggested, "It is possible that Lord Æthelhelm may have played a part in our mother's poisoning." Edward moved away from the wall and tapped his foot, "And what proof do you have that suggests that he did it?" 

"He was with our mother during the time they were imprisoned together and that he overheard the conversation between Anna and Deorstan about our mother's diagnosis," Æthelflæd continued, "I suspect that he didn't tell you about it?" 

Edward shook his head, "The only time I actually had a conversation with Æthelhelm was when we were discussing the fortification of East-Anglia. I do not take his other advice these days due to the past actions he placed upon himself of what I do not want." He continued, "However, I cannot see him actually _poisoning_ our mother-"

Æthelflæd interrupted, "He did put our mother in confinement and has tried his best to not have you listen to her-"

"Yes, I can agree that Æthelhelm was sly in his past actions but poisoning our mother is a step too far to accuse of. Furthermore, there is no proof until our mother confirms whether he or anyone else would've poisoned her." Edward continued, "Besides, the witan must judge and decide whether these crimes are of Æthelhelm or not..."

"It was a suggestion" Æthelflæd spoke, "Anna also said that our mother could've poisoned herself, though she said it was unlikely... But Anna gave our mother a tonic to reverse the poisoning, so she should be well as soon as possible..." Edward then grew curious about this Anna that Æthelflæd spoke more of. This mysterious woman who went out of her way to save their mother. He then placed a finger on his chin and wondered about Ælswith's savior, "Tell me more about this Anna. Where does she come from and why did she save our mother? Does she want some sort of reward?"

"She's from Cantwareburh and no, Anna doesn't want anything" Æthelflæd continued, "She told me that the reason she wanted to save our mother because she doesn't want to have anyone suffer. Anna has a very good and selfless heart- she'd even prayed over our mother for our mother's health." 

A deep sigh came from Edward's lips. It was rare to hear that someone wanted nothing and yet wanted to help without no reward. A strange yet humble person indeed. He then asked, "How did she become a healer?" 

Æthelflæd almost gave a quick smile before answering Edward's question, "Do you remember when father and mother went to Cantwareburh to visit a friend of our father's?" Edward nodded, "Yes, Lady Agatha of Wárhámtún, I remember quite well"

"Well, Anna was the child that our father spoke about how much she wanted to learn and become a healer" Æthelflæd explained further, "Anna was the girl who our father ordered to become a healer. After she finished her training, she decided to go around England and help those with failing health. She went from all the way from Kent to Leyland in Merica just healing people..."

Edward was impressed. Traveling around by themselves was a dangerous choice to make, a brave one at most. Though Edward believed that Anna did this out of duty and humbleness for a very noble cause. In some ways, Edward felt a bit jealous of this Anna for her Godsent duty... It was something that gave him awe. Edward then looked outside of the window and saw the sky already darken, "It is late, we must rest for tomorrow... I'll make sure to visit our mother when I know for sure I'm available"

Æthelflæd was finally grateful that Edward made the decision to see their mother. For nights on end, she was angry at him for being stubborn and headstrong for not seeing their mother. But for now, she could be a bit at peace, "Thank you Edward, it means a lot..." Then Æthelflæd remembered, "Also do not be alarmed, Anna is currently with our mother. She's just watching over her progress" 

Edward nodded, "Very well" He and Æthelflæd then began to walk toward's the doors, "At least for now we are at peace with this news...." 

When both Edward and Æthelflæd left the Reading Room, an idea popped into Edward's mind, and besides just visiting his mother and reconcile with her; he also thought about this Anna of Cantwareburh and decided to see who this woman was with his own eyes. 

~~~

𝐈𝐍 Edward's separate room, away from his wife, he laid in his bed still thinking about this mother and this mysterious Anna. He could not fall asleep with all these thoughts in his head and so, instead of waiting for the next day to actually see them, he decided to go to his mother's quarters and see them ahead of time to put his mind at rest. With only a simple tunic and trousers, he got out of his bed and started to make his way to his mother's room. His feet were cold as ice as the cool air and stone floors touched them. But he did not care for the coolness of the air nor the lack of shoes he didn't have on, because just when he turned the corner of the hall and finally made it to his mother's room, warmth came upon him. 

Through the crack between the door and the door frame, he thought he saw an angel. An angel with long golden blond hair that went to her waist, porcelain skin, and round green eyes that seemed like it glowed with the candle lights in the room. Edward was almost taken back by the beauty and so he stood outside the door almost stunned. But when Anna glanced at the door, she noticed Edward and made her way to the door and opened it, "Are you all right? Can I help you with anything?" 

Edward who seemed sort of intimidated by her and began to stammer a bit in his words, "I-I thought everyone was already asleep"

Anna chuckled, "I can't afford to be asleep, I have to watch Lady Ælswith and see if she's healing properly" She then opened the door widely, "Please come in, I'm sure a bit of company wouldn't harm anyone." When Anna invited Edward in, little did they both knew that Ælswith was finally awake but was still closing her eyes as if she was asleep and listened to who she believed was a healer and her son. 

"I didn't think servants were awake as well" Anna commented, "I thought they should be asleep for the hard days work tomorrow"

Edward furrowed his brows confused at what Anna was commenting on, "Pardon?"

"Oh, well you are a servant, are you not?" Anna asked innocently as she pointed out Edward's attire. Edward then realized and now knew that Anna initially thought he was a servant due to what he was wearing and that she hadn't seen him as king before. However, instead of correcting Anna or telling her that he was in fact the king, he decided to play along with it. 

"Right, yes" Edward lied, "Sorry, it's been an exhausting day"

In Ælswith's mind, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She almost wanted to jump out of her pretend-sleep and wanted to stop Edward from speaking to the poor healer. Another thought came into her mind and began to wonder if he started to fancy this girl and that's why he wanted to get closer to her. Ælswith prayed that wouldn't be the case because she didn't want some poor woman actually being bedded by him out of wedlock. 

Anna lightly chuckled, "That's all right, I understand. I know working or being in a palace is hard enough as it is" 

Edward furrowed his brows and grew curious if Anna actually lived or been in a palace before, "You've been in a palace before?"

"I lived in one," Anna explained, "I grew up in Wárhámtún in Cantwareburh, my guardian was the lady of the great hall." Edward questioned further in surprise, "You're a lady?"

Anna replied as she showed him a seat while she sat next to Ælswith, "I was once, but I rejected that life so I can be a healer. Life of a noble isn't a life I wanted... I could've been a nun, but I think that would be a lot more boring than being a healer-"

"Being a nun isn't entirely boring" Edward interrupted, "Many nuns live in a life of community and prayer-" Though Anna interrupted, "In part, you're right but I am a restless soul who rather ventures into the world than being confined in a nunnery for the rest of my life. And so, I became a traveling healer because that's what I believe God wanted me to be." Edward pondered upon Anna's words and spoke, "Well, if you believe God called you to do his work as a healer then that is what you should be." 

"Indeed," After Anna agreed with the unknown _servant,_ she realized that she didn't properly introduce herself, "Where are my manners, I'm Anna" When Anna extended her hand out to greet, Edward hesitantly took her hand and shook it, "I'm Ed-" He then had to correct himself, "Edwin..."

Ælswith, in her mind, screamed out and prayed out to God, _'Edwin?! Lord, give me the strength to restrain myself for listening to Edward's bad game with the poor woman....'_

When Anna and Edward shook their hands, Edward almost felt static between their touch. Though for Anna, it was nothing more than a simple handshake, "Well Edwin it's nice to meet you" After their handshake, Anna set her hand down on her lap and tilted her head, "Do you usually wander through the halls at night?"

"No," Edward responded, "No I don't usually... I just couldn't go to sleep..."

"Oh" Anna replied as she took the damp towel off of Ælswith's so she can see if her fever had gone down, "When I was a child, I used to wander around Wárhámtún at night and watch the stars and count how many there were before falling asleep by one of the court's windows... I still sorta do that when I go around to different places in England and fall asleep in the strangest of places"

A chuckle escaped the golden-haired woman and remembered the times she found herself after she fell asleep. Edward, who was intently listening to her, tilted his head in curiosity, "Where was the strangest place you found yourself sleeping in?" Anna smiled widely and answered, "A rabbit's hole. I couldn't get myself out of there for an hour until some poor farmer's child had to see me, a strange woman, was struggling to get out." 

Edward smiled widely at the small story was about to chuckle before Anna asked him something, "Do you know what those pile of books are in the corner?" When Anna pointed out the books, he recognized them. His eyes sadden a bit and remembered about the day he requested to have the books taken away from the Reading Room... A stupid request he thought to himself. As for Ælswith, she grew curious about whether if Anna was talking about the chronicles of Wessex that were piled in her room. Edward answered then answered, "Those are Wessex's chronicles, documented-"

"I know what chronicles are," Anna spoke, "Why are they here? They should belong in a library or in a church" Edward sighed as he kept looking at his father's chronicles, "The king thought it would be best if the books were away from the Reading Room so the room can be converted to a planning room for building and fortifying England. The palace doesn't have room for the books for now..." 

"If I was bold enough, I would tell the king that in order to keep a safe place for these well-documented records of England, he should make a library in Winchester for these books and maybe other written things that are important to Wessex's history and culture." After when Anna stated her thoughts to Edward, Edward was a bit in shock with her confident opinion but knew that having a library in Winchester or even in the palace wasn't a bad idea. He then shifted in his seat and looked at her with his eyes soften, "I'm sure if you ask the king, he would consider the idea-"

Anna sighed, "If I actually met the king, I don't think he would want to see me. In fact, since I'm not really welcomed here by the king, I think he would want me banned from the palace..." Edward knitted his brows in concern, "I don't think he would ban you from the palace, he would probably welcome you to stay however you like since you saved his mother"

Anna also knitted her brows together and was curious how _"Edwin"_ heard about her healing the king's mother, "How did you find out about me healing Lady Ælswith?" 

Edward, who felt as if he was caught in some like (in which he was in a way), quickly made an answer which wasn't fully false, "Word spreads quickly around the palace..." Anna nodded and looked back at the books. In her eyes, she wanted to read them and learn something she didn't know about like the Battle of Ethandun. However, if she did, she would probably be in more trouble than she was now. Edward saw it in her eyes, the hesitation and resistance she was placing herself in. Edward remembered what Æthelflæd told him about how much Anna wanted to learn as a child, he admired that, "You like reading don't you?"

Anna glanced at Edward and to the floor, "I do, I haven't read anything for the past couple years since I've been traveling all around-" In mid-sentence, Anna saw Edward leave his seat to grab a book from a pile of other chronicles which left Anna in shock and in fear, "What are you doing?!" Anna continued to whisper-yell, "If Lady Ælswith wakes up and sees us reading her husband's books, we are both dead-"

Edward wanted to laugh at Anna's fear but he shook his head and smiled, "We are not going to be in trouble, trust me" He continued, "I read the these before-"

Anna's eyes widened more, "How?!"

Edward continued smiling, "Well, I shouldn't tell you"

Lady Ælswith, who was still awake and listening to the conversation, wanted to stop Edward. In her thoughts, she told herself, _'I swear Edward, you're going to give this innocent lady a heart attack. Please leave her alone...'_

"Bu-," Just when Anna was going to protest to _"Edwin"_ , he opened the book and Anna was enamored by the pages and the paint that stained the paper. Anna wanted to touch it and admire it. Edward looked at her and studied her facial features and saw how much she admired it. He then took the chronicle off his lap and placed it in her's. Anna started to stutter and didn't want to touch it as if it was sacred, "Edwin, please get this chronicle off my lap... We really shouldn't be touching or reading these, they're made for the royal family and those who have higher status..." 

Edward kept smiling at Anna, it was very funny to him to see how fearful she was. But Edward knew that he didn't want to leave Anna uncomfortable with the book, so he gently took the book off of her lap, "You shouldn't really be scared of holding a book-"

"They're not just books, Edwin," Anna interjected as Edward got up from his seat again so he could put the book back, "They're England's history, made for those who study to be scholars and those of noble descent"

"I think these chronicles should be made for everyone" Edward commented, "My- I mean, King Alfred made these books so that, in years to come, all could remember our history as a people and maybe for those who are from the outside can learn as well." Anna gave a small smile to Edward, "I guess you're right, but the current king must make that decision to carry down his father's will in order to see that dream of carrying down England's legacy..." 

Just before Edward was going to compliment on her wisdom, both Anna and Edward heard moans from Ælswith's lips. Anna stood up from her seat and checked on Ælswith's forehead to see if the fever rose again. Edward who stood there worried glanced back and forth between Anna and his mother, "Is she doing all right?" 

Anna nodded, "She is, she doesn't have a fever" Then she grabbed her wrist to check her heartbeat which looked very foreign to Edward, "And her heartbeat is steady-"

"You can check if someone is alive by feeling their wrist?" Edward asked in curiosity. When Anna heard Edward's curiosity, she came by Edward's side with her back facing Ælswith and took his wrist, "You see these veins? Well, these veins all connect to the heart and if they connect to the heart, then you can feel the heartbeat." Anna then took Edward's other hand and placed his thumb on his right wrist. Edward began to feel his heartbeat and was amazed by the new knowledge he learned, "Where did you learn this?"

Anna chuckled and took away her hands off of Edward's, "I studied it when I was fifteen, I was sent to Paris to study more advance healing techniques." When Anna was talking, Edward noticed his mother and that her eyes were wide open staring at Edward. Her face was not of pleasure and was for sure not happy that he was taking away Anna's time as a healer. With a sense of fear in Edward's mind, Edward looked back at Anna, "I think I should be going, it's late and we both need sleep"

"Oh right," Anna continued, "Well since I can't go to sleep, I guess we both should part our ways. You have work to do tomorrow and I have to make sure Lady Ælswith is well." She then quietly opened the door for Edward who gave quietly walked through it. Anna then whispered in the hallway, "It was a pleasure talking to you Edwin, it's not an everyday thing to talk to someone late at night." Edward smiled back at her in the dimmed hallway, "It was a pleasure talking to you too, I really hope you sleep though. It's not-"

"Healthy?" Anna finished his sentence with a smile, "I know, but I must put my duty first before myself. Good night Edwin..." And there Anna closed the door leaving Edward alone in the hallway who was, in part, left fascinated by Anna. 

Though he realized that tomorrow was going to be difficult when he and Anna were going to meet again as "King Edward of Wessex" than being "Edwin, the Wandering Servant"... But before he reached his quarters, he came across a window and saw the night sky and thought about the little story of how Anna fell asleep in a rabbit hole when she looked upon the stars. 


	8. ⭑ 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ⭑

_~~~_

_"belæfan á behydig"_

𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥.

~~~

♪ 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ♪

Medicine Chant (Anilah)

Lívstræðrir (John Lunn & Eivør)

Spring Morning (Adrian von Ziegler)

Draumr (Jeremy Soule)

Æfintyr (ASKII & Brodie Marshall)

Dreams of the Past (Trevor Morris)


	9. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐕. ￩

~~~

_Front doors of Winchester Court Yard, Wessex_

𝐃𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍 waited patiently for Starkaðr outside the entrance. After the meeting with Uhtred, Deorstan sent a message to Starkaðr for them to meet before they confronted Anna. Deorstan wanted to talk to Starkaðr about the plans of him being gone and what he wanted Starkaðr to watch and observe in the palace in case any other dangers arise. Deorstan paced back and forth between the entryway and wondered why Starkaðr wasn't on time- _  
_

"Sorry, Lord" Starkaðr's voice startled Deorstan when Starkaðr ran up behind him.

Starkaðr, son of Sihtric, wasn't what people would imagine being Sihtric's son. He wasn't the average guard in Wessex. Instead of being lean and muscular - he was tall and lanky. His skin was sun-kissed by the sun and freckles were dipped from head to toe. His dark brown hair, almost black, was messed up due to him sleeping hard after yesterday's long training sessions. Starkaðr was young, but not too young for him to join the Wessex Guard. He was considered the odd one in the group of men by not his appearance but by his nature and personal background he grew up with. He was a kind and quiet young man who never objected to anything (unless it went against his moral beliefs or going against the risks of innocent people's lives). With his heart, he swore to protect the people of Wessex as a guard and as a warrior like his father. Even though he rarely saw his father due to him being a sworn man to Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Starkaðr admired him from afar and wanted to be, if not, similar to him. 

Starkaðr then furrowed his brows and saw the mild distress Deorstan was expressing, "Sorry, I should've not jumped to you like that-"

Deorstan then put a hand on Starkaðr's shoulder and reinsured the young man, "It's all right Starkaðr" He continued as he led Starkaðr in the palace, "I was getting worried if you were going to come." Starkaðr sighed, "I didn't mean to sleep in-"

"Don't worry, I have those days as well" Deorstan continued as the two guards entered the courtyard, "But just be aware, Heregar rarely gives us guards a break or a pass if you come to the palace late."

Deorstan heard Starkaðr gulp loudly in nervousness. Deorstan knew that Starkaðr was nervous around Heregar. Heregar, the son of the late Steapa, was a tall and broad man. He was much taller than the late Steapa and his muscles were very solid and toned. Many of the warriors and guards called Heregar "Goliath" due to how massive he was. Heregar was also very strict in his command as the head of Wessex's guard. Starkaðr remembered the time when he first came to the guard as a new recruit and saw Heregar's strict ways. One time he witnessed Octha, another new recruit of the guard, being whipped by the other higher-ranked guards for lying to Heregar about the debt he was supposed to pay. It disturbed Starkaðr and he remembered how Octha's skin was peeling since the whip had shard glasses at the tip of them. Starkaðr prayed to God or the gods that he wouldn't face a punishment of such brutality. 

"Yes, I will do my utmost to be on time," Starkaðr replied back as he linked his hands behind his back. Again, Deorstan reinsured Sihtric's son and patted the boy's shoulder, "Hey, do not live in fear," Deorstan continued, "Men who do, do not live that long in life. You must be confident and vigilant as Wessex's guard. Never give in to fear and cave-in when darkness comes. As a command, I want you to first guard your emotions so you can protect other people, you understand me?"

Starkaðr nodded and gave a small smile to Deorstan and was thankful for the words. Ever since Starkaðr met Deorstan, he thought of him as a brother. Deorstan would often give him sound advice, help him practice in his swordplay, and swerve Starkaðr from any troubles internally and out in the public's eye. Starkaðr felt lucky to know the Kentish man because he knew that there were many young guards who didn't have a good or close friendship with their mentors. Deorstan nodded back at the half-Dane-half-Saxon guard and took his hand off of Starkaðr's shoulder. 

Starkaðr then asked, "Lord, what must I do when you leave?"

Deorstan answered in a calm yet whispering voice so that no one could hear them speak (if anyone was awake), "When I leave for Coccham, I want you to observe everything that goes around in Winchester. If it revolves around the Lady Ælswith or anyone in the royal household, report it to Abbess Hild or Father Pyrlig. They will relay the message to Lord Uhtred and his men - especially your father. And if things get worse, I want you to plea to Lady Ælswith and take her to Bedwyn or Coccham for her safety... " Deorstan then sighed, "I believe the palace has become a darker place since the death of King Alfred..."

Starkaðr furrowed his brows, "What about your friend? What if she can't leave the palace?" He continued in a whisper, "What then? What must I do?" 

Deorstan thought long and hard. He knew that there would be complications with the plan of having Anna leave Winchester could swerve into a different path. Anna could be arrested for entering the palace without the King's permission or she could be pressured to serve the royal family, which was worse in his opinion. Deorstan prayed to God that everything would work out because if it didn't he would be the blame of Anna's doom. Deorstan looked at Starkaðr with unsureness in his eyes, "I don't know... I will think of something-"

Then out of the corner of Deorstan's eye, he saw Æthelhelm walking towards him and Starkaðr. A sense of worry came to Deorstan on whether Lord Æthelhelm heard bits and pieces of Deorstan's plans or heard all of it. He did not know, what he did know was that Æthelhelm was going to question him and Starkaðr and why they were in the courtyard when it wasn't their shift. Deorstan then cleared his throat and faced Lord Æthelhelm, "Lord Æthelhelm, is there something of the matter?" 

Æthelhelm raised his grey brow and had his hands held behind his back, "I am curious of why you and your companion guarding courtyard this early in the morning?" 

Deorstan quickly replied back, "I have been mentoring the newest recruit about the different shifts of guarding and wherein the palace he would most likely guard when he is a full initiate to the Guards of Wessex." Æthelhelm looked at Deorstan and studied his facial expression to determine if he was lying or not, however, he could not tell. So he looked over to Deorstan's shadow and asked him, "Is this true?"

Starkaðr composed himself and did his best face to not show any nervousness or fear, "Yes Lord, Lord Deorstan has been mentoring and wanted me to understand the different times each shift are-" 

" _'Lord'_?"Æthelhelm questioned Deorstan's title in curiosity, "And what _'Lord_ ' are you?"

Deorstan sighed in a bit of annoyance but nothing that Æthelhelm would notice, "My father was Lord Eglaf of Fordwich, my brother Erkenbrand is now the new and current Lord of Fordwich." Æthelhelm exclaimed, "Ah, so you're the son of the wealthy Kentish merchant family?"

Deorstan nodded which made him grew restless in his standing, "Yes, my family have been the _'wealthy merchant lords'_ for three generations-"

"Then perhaps you may know of a Kentish healer who just _miraculously_ healed the Lady Ælswith?" Æthelhelm continued, "I overheard that she was from Cantwareburh and that you were raised there for a time..." 

Deorstan was taken aback with Æthelhelm's knowledge of Anna and wondered how he knew about her. But just before he was going to respond, he noticed two other men from each side of the courtyard and put the pieces together that these men were probably Æthelhelm's spies he had hired only for Winchester. So, instead of lying in front of Æthelhelm, he only responded with a tone of confidence, "Well, I heard she's not really from Kent- not originally" But before he continued he noticed Abbess Hild and thought that this was a chance to escape Æthelhelm's grasp of interrogation. 

"Abbess Hild!" Deorstan continued, "Is there anything we can help you with?" Hild knew that she walked into some sort of conflict between the young raven-haired guard and the King's father-in-law. Instead of avoiding the conflict, she intervened as she grasped the healer's red cloak that she had forgotten back at the nunnery, "Oh well, I was going to pray over the Lady Ælswith. Maybe you and _Swithin_ could escort me to her quarters?"

Deorstan nodded, "It would be our pleasure" Deorstan looked back at Æthelhelm, "Excuse me, my Lord. Perhaps we will talk about this another time" Æthelhelm gave a small glare as he switched his locked hands behind his back to them crossed around his chest, "Perhaps, _Lord Deorstan_..."

Deorstan and Starkaðr came by Hild's side and guided her away from Æthelhelm and his two spies. Once they were out of sight, Hild turned to Deorstan with worry, "What did Lord Æthelhelm want?"

"He was questioning me about-" Deorstan noticed Anna's cloak with her broach that Lady Agatha gave her in Hild's grasp, "Where did you get this?"

"Anna, forgotten it at the nunnery and so I thought I should give this back" Hild continued, "Uhtred told me that she was here healing Ælswith..." Hild then saw the worry in Deorstan's eyes and realized that there was more than just Æthelhelm interrogating the young guard, "Is this about Anna? Was that the reason why Lord Æthelhelm questioned you?" 

Deorstan couldn't meet Hild's eyes; that was the answer. Deorstan gently touched Anna's cloak and faintly spoken, "I fear that I sent her to her doom..." He continued, "I should have never-"

Hild then gently put her hand on his shoulder, "Let's stop thinking about the past and get to the task at hand" She continued as Deorstan finally looked straight into Hild's eyes, "Let's find Anna and get her to safety." Deorstan nodded and looked up at Starkaðr who gave a small sympathetic smile toward's the raven-haired guard. The three of them began to walk again and Deorstan hoped and prayed to God that everything will be all right and that Anna would not stay in Winchester any longer...

~~~ 

_Wárhámtún, Cantwareburh, Cent..._ _Warhampton, Canterbury, Kent_

_Years previously_

𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 five-year-old Anna tipped-toed through the dim hall of Wárhámtún. She should've been in bed a long time ago but she couldn't go to sleep. Deep down, in the pit of her stomach, she knew something was wrong. She overheard at supper time about her parents and bits of pieces of why they were leaving. Anna overheard that someone was after her mother, father, and brother and they had to leave. But Anna didn't understand why this person was after her elder brother and parents and why she and her younger sisters couldn't come along. It was the reason why she couldn't go to sleep... _  
_

When Anna reached the corner of the hall, she heard Lady Agatha, Father Theowine, her mother, and her father speaking.

" _Íslaug..._ You need to say goodbye to your daughters" Father Theowine spoke in a serious yet concerning tone. But Anna was confused; why did Father Theowine call her mother ' _Íslaug_ '? Wasn't her name _'Layrun'_?... Anna continued to listen in to the conversation. 

"I don't want to wake them up and if I do, Anna will beg us to take her with" Anna's mother replied, "She will not understand and I don't want her to-"

"She has to know sometime, _Í_ _slaug_ ," She heard her father's voice, "We already told Iwan-"

"Iwan is old enough to understand his about birthright and the dangers that comes with it!" Anna's mother whispered-yelled in stress. Anna was now scared of what was going on. What birthright and what dangers? As fear came into Anna's eyes, she made eye contact with her elder brother. Iwan, the copper-brown haired and green-eyed boy, was one of the closest people Anna had in her young life. He was pale like her but had freckles kissed upon his cheeks. He was quieter than Anna and always observed his surroundings, so it wasn't surprising that Iwan noticed Anna in the corner of his eye. But instead of tattle-telling on Anna to their parents, he nodded slightly giving her a sign that he'll remain quiet of Anna's presence. 

Albin, Anna's father, sighed in utter disappointment and looked at Lady Agatha and Father Theowine, "When Anna and the other girls are old enough, let's say when they are adult age, could you please tell them about _who they are_ and why they are to remain _anonymous_?"

The greying red-haired woman gave a bittersweet expression to the Albin, "Of course, I will tell them about _our blood_ when the time is right..." Theowine budded in, "You have my word, my Lord..." 

After they spoke, hugs and embraces came with tears and heartbreak. Anna wanted to jump in but she knew that she would be in trouble if her parents never wanted to be in the same room as them... She knew right there and then, they were intending to leave and never see her, her sisters, or the people of Wárhámtún Manor ever again. After the last goodbyes between her parents, brother, Lady Agatha, and Father Theowine, her parents and Iwan left the doors and Anna tip-toed to the closest window and saw Lord Eorman holding the reins of two horses for her parents and brother. Tears started to stream down Anna's face, she felt as if she and her younger sisters were being rejected by her blood family. Sniffles broke through Anna's lips which echoed through the halls-

"Anna?" Lady Agatha called out as she stared directly at the little golden-blond girl. But instead of Anna replying to Lady Agatha or running to her for comfort, she bolted from where she stood and flew out the doors her parents and brother left. She heard her name being called out by Father Theowine and Lady Agatha, Anna ignored them. All she cared about was the family that was abandoning her. 

"Mama!" Anna cried out, "Please take me with you! Please! I want to go!"

Layrun looked back at her daughter as she sat on her midnight-black horse. Her long strawberry-blond hair swayed in the moonlight air and her face was both distraught and grief. Stares were shared between mother and daughter, long stares of longing and need. But instead of Layrun trotting back to her beautiful five-year-old daughter, her face changed from grief to anger, "We can't have you"

That was it. Pain. Hurt. Heartbreak. Sadness. Those emotions fell all upon this one little girl who knew nothing but the past love that her mother and father gave her... But that love shattered all because of a mother rejected her... _How can love be immortal when pain exists? If heartbreak is a weapon, then love is just a mortal being ready to be stabbed in the heart_... Anna stood there and cried as she watched her parents and brother leave the ground of Lady Agatha's estate. Her knees dropped to the mud and her hands dived in with it. Her screams were unfathomable to the ears who heard it. It was as if she was being murdered. 

Lord Eorman was disheartened by the sight of her God-daughter as he walked towards her. He was too nervous to take her into his arms and hold her. She was like glass to him; so fragile and so delicate to handle. He gently placed a hand on Anna's small back and stroked her long golden blond hair. 

"Uncle," A young Deorstan spoke up as he walked toward Eorman and Anna, "What happened?-"

"Deorstan, stay back" Eorman commanded, "Anna needs some space..." But Deorstan ignored his uncle and knelt down next to a dolorous Anna. He touched her cheek and tried to wipe all the tears from her eyes, "Anna, please stop crying" Deorstan sweetly spoke, "Anna, stop... Anna... Anna-"

~~~

_Lady Ælswith's quarters_

_Present-day..._

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀 jolted again from her seat. This was the fifth time she drifted to sleep and the nightmares had gotten worse and worse until she dreamt of the past. She hated those dreams; the past memories. Remembering her father, mother, and brother was something that felt like a taboo to her. She remembered the weeks after they left when she got the news that they were dead and about how they were ambushed by the King of Cornwalhm's men. The war of the Cornish succession was a brutal war. Brothers fought brothers, families took sides on who the rightful king was, and in the end; her family chosen the wrong side. For their betrayal to the Cornish crown, they fled to Kent and fled again only leaving their _unwanted daughters_ behind. 

Anna couldn't remember that much of Cornwalhm for she was just a mere baby at the time. All she knew about her Cornish side was that her father was a nobleman and close to the Crowned Prince Arthfael who died in the war. Anna though considered herself more Saxon than Cornish due to living in Kent for almost all her life, though her mother's side was questionable. Her mother, Layrun, was mysterious. She never heard any stories of where in England she came from, who was her family, and why was it not spoken about. All she remembered of what Lady Agatha told her was that Layrun was a handmaiden in her father's household and they both fell in love and married. Anna could only assume that Layrun was Saxon due to her name. 

After the thoughts of the past finally slipped away in her thoughts, she noticed the Lady Ælswith waking up from her slumber. Anna sighed in relief knowing that the tonic that Ælswith took finally worked. Anna then got up from her chair and tied her hair back with a piece of lace that was in her pocket. She grabbed the bowl of water that rested in the sunlight and dampened a small towel, "Morning, my lady" Anna greeted Ælswith, "I hope you're feeling all right-"

"I feel like a new person," Ælswith replied as she started to sit herself up from the bed, "Who has healed me?" Anna then rushed to Ælswith's side and watched the lady position herself, "Please be careful, my lady. You've been ill for a long time and I do not know if moving this fast would make you lightheaded..." Anna then took the damp towel and gently cleaned Lady Ælswith's face, "To answer your question, my lady, I did... I made a tonic for the poison you suffered-"

Ælswith's eyes widen in a bit of shock as if she knew what she may have been ill from. Sure, her mind was still foggy since she was ill for many weeks, but she still remembered clearly the time she was imprisoned by the Danes and who she had to share the chapel with along with a conversation the certain flowers in the gardens... "How did you know I was poisoned?" Ælswith questioned the young healer quite quickly as if she was in shock of Anna's diagnosis. Anna's brows furrowed as she realized that with Lady Ælswith's expression, tone, and composure, Ælswith knew of the poison she had ingested. Anna lowered the towel from Ælswith's head, "You know of the poison?"

Ælswith's eyes faltered from Anna and lowered her head. That was the answer, Ælswith knew about the poison. But the question remained; did Ælswith poison herself or _someone else_? Anna sat up in her seat with shoulders back and determination, "My lady, you poisoned you?"

It took a while for the king's mother to form an answer, but when she opened her lips, her mouth exhaled a lie, "I did" Ælswith continued, "I took the purple flowers and ate them because I thought the Danes were going to kill us..." But as Anna studied Ælswith's expression and her body language, Anna would read through her as if she was a page on a chronicle. With all the travels and meetings of a variety of people throughout England, she felt as if she was somewhat of an expert on knowing who told the truth and who did not... Clearly, Ælswith wasn't telling the truth or wasn't fully. Anna furrowed her brows and shook her head in disbelief, and with a bold response, she replied, "My lady, I do not think you're telling the truth... Please don't hide it, it may be worse for the both of us..." 

Ælswith was a bit taken back with Anna's gutsy approach to her lie, though she knew that the healer didn't mean it with ill intent. As Ælswith fidgeted with her fingers in her lap and pursed her lips in defeat, she looked at the healer, "It's better if I say nothing" She continued, "I do want to drag an innocent in a conflict-"

"My lady", Anna interrupted, "I'm afraid you have no say in that anymore... I believe I have already been dragged into this conflict. I, and some others, believe who poisoned you-" Ælswith snapped back, "It is not your place to judge who poisoned me. Your place is to heal and tend to the weak..." Anna raised her brows. Sure, it was Anna's place to only heal and tend to those who cannot heal themselves. But since Anna placed her life on the line to save Lady Ælswith, Anna was now the target to the perpetrators for she saved Ælswith - thus giving Anna the reason why she should judge. 

Anna then got up from her seat and started to fold the used damped towels that she used overnight to cool Ælswith's fading fever. Anna remained silent, she did not want to talk back against the king's mother nor argue the reason why Anna had the right to judge. Though her face was of annoyance and slight anger due to the fact that Ælswith had no idea how much stress Anna was facing now. Ælswith, on the other hand, studied the healer and how she folded the towels along with how she stood. Sure, she knew what her voice sounded like and what the back of her head looked like due to Edward conversing with the healer overnight. But for some reason, Ælswith felt like she knew this girl and that her birthright was higher than a lowly healer. 

"What is your name, girl?" Ælswith asked as she continued to study Anna and watching her clean up the mess in Ælswith's room. Anna glanced at Alfred's widow and answered as she began to braid her hair and wrapped it around in a plain linen veil, "I am Anna, daughter of Albin of Cornwalhm..." 

Ælswith's brow furrowed in curiosity, "You are Cornish?" Anna quickly replied, "Half by blood, my lady... My mother was Layrun, a Saxon handmaiden of the Lady Agatha of Wárhámtún..." Then it clicked for Ælswith, she now remembered who Anna was... This was the same girl that impressed her and the late King Alfred with her knowledge in wisdom all those years ago. Ælswith was stunned how grown up she was and how she bloomed into a flower. It was no wonder Edward took a small liking to her. Ælswith tilted her head, "Are you Lady Agatha's ward?"

" _Was_ " Anna quickly responded, "She died many years ago when I was studying under Physician Clovis of Paris when I was sent to Cetham..." Memories of Agatha came back to Anna. Memories of the greying red-haired woman who treated Anna as if she was her own flesh and blood. To Anna, Agatha was the only woman who was more like a mother to her than her actual blood mother. Anna snapped back into reality and continued, "My sister Mari is now the Lady of Wárhámtún and the Lady of Cantwareburh... She now is in command of the city"

Ælswith raised an eyebrow at the news that a woman had power over a city. Even though women had the right to own land and inherit them by the rights of their fathers and the laws of Saxons, it was not common to hear a woman commanding a city along with the city's guard. "I knew that Lady Agatha co-helped the guard from time to time", Ælswith continued, "But I never knew that she made a will for a young lady to watch over the whole command of the city"

"The Head-Guard Cadda gave my sister his permission to help command the city" Anna continued with some bittersweet tones in her voice, "Lady Mari had always been keen on preserving and protecting the people of Cantwareburh..." 

Ælswith tilted her head and realized the conflict between Anna's voice and her words. It was as if Anna was the one to inherit both manor and city but chose a different path... "Were you sole heir to Cantwareburh?" Ælswith asked in a cautious tone due to already upsetting the young woman previously. Anna glanced at Alfred's widow and back to the towels, "I was... After Lady Agatha died, I had relinquished my claims and gave them to my sister and had my God-fathers be Lord Protectors until Lady Mari came of age... Lady Agatha gave orders to my mentor to send me to Frankia to study more healing arts and have me notified that my titles of Cantwareburh were relinquished-"

"But not your titles to Wárhámtún?" Ælswith questioned more as she grew more curious about Anna. In some ways, she was astonished that Lady Agatha favored her wards... It was not common to have non-relatives inherit titles and lands. However, Ælswith knew about Agatha's standing and her past along with her bloodline... This healer must have had an importance to some bloodline connected to Agatha... "Wárhámtún is my home" Anna replied, "Lady Agatha would not take away the home my sisters and I were raised in - some of us were even born there... Though I rather not be looked upon as a noblewoman, it makes me feel selfish when people address me as _'milady_ ' or anything of that nature... I learned that when I was in Frankia..."

Ælswith couldn't bear to grow more curious about Anna. There was something about her that Ælswith wanted to know more. There was an aura that surrounded the _'Lady-Healer'_ that drew Ælswith more to her. She started to realize more about how Edward completely forgot about her due to Anna's presence. From what Ælswith could gather more was that from Anna's body language, she was not telling the full reason why Anna went to Frankia besides studying the art of healing. One last question came upon Ælswith's lips, "Were you in Frankia just for studying advance healing?"

Anna chuckled a bit due to the questions that Lady Ælswith had. It was as if she was being interviewed for someplace in the palace for her to be a part of; which she had no intention of having. Anna answered, "I was in Paris... In the court of King Odo of West Frankia, as the matter of fact... His court physician knew of Clovis and knew of Lady Agatha, thus I was granted an apprenticeship over there. So yes, I was only there for advanced healing studies... _Originally_..."

Ælswith's head tilted when Anna acknowledged that maybe Lady Agatha's plans for her eldest ward were altered or changed, "What do you mean _'originally'_?" Anna stopped from what she was doing and felt as if she spoke too much to Ælswith about her past... Her _personal_ past... Anna did not say a word and ignored Ælswith's question. If she did answer, not only she would be embarrassed but it may jeopardize Deorstan's plans of getting Anna away from the coming dangers of the palace court. 

Then a knock came upon the door, Anna instantly dropped what she was doing and answered it. When she opened the door she saw Abbess Hild, Deorstan, and another guard who she presumed was a friend of Deorstan's. Hild gave a small smile, "Hello Anna, I see that you've been tending the Lady Ælswith" 

Anna smiled and nodded and opened the door a bit wider to show Hild Ælswith's full recovery, "Yes, and Lady Ælswith has made a full recovery." Hild was surprised at the sight of Ælswith. The last time Hild saw her was when she looked like she was on her death bed; pale as a ghost and dark circles around her eyes that looked like it sulked in her skull. Now Lady Ælswith's color looked as fresh and blushed as it could be and her eyes seemed brighter than the last time. Hild thought that Ælswith's recovery was a miracle from God and that God sent Anna to Winchester for this purpose. Though Hild somewhat knew of the threats made upon Anna's life and maybe this miracle was now Anna's doom. 

Ælswith smiled at the Abbess and welcomed her into her quarters, "Come in Abbess Hild, it seems that I have not seen you in ages!" As Hild entered into the room, Anna and Deorstan made eye contact. Anna knew that Deorstan would be waiting for her when she was finally dismissed by Lady Ælswith, and so, he and his guard-friend would wait outside of the room before Anna was able to leave. Once Anna closed the door again, Hild turned around to Anna and handed Anna's red cloak to her, "You have forgotten this back at the nunnery." 

Anna, who was surprised and grateful, gently took the cloak and noticed that her broach was still in tack which was a sigh of relief for her, "Thank you, Abbess Hild" She continued with a chuckle, "I'll remember next time that if I forget anything, the best place to leave things is at the nunnery." Hild chuckled at Anna's little joke, "Well I hope you don't forget too many things, even though my nuns wouldn't try to steal - the temptations will still linger within them."

After the small engagement Anna and Hild had, Hild turned her attention to Ælswith who gave a small smile to both Anna and Hild's interaction and took in note that Hild was already acquainted with the young healer. Hild came to Ælswith's side and sat on the chair that Anna previously sat on, "How are you, my lady?" 

"I feel much better," Ælswith answered, "Young Anna did an excellent job on helping me to heal, I cannot be more grateful and thankful to her." Anna glanced back at Lady Ælswith as she set her cloak neatly on the table. She almost felt surprised that the King's wife was _'grateful'_ and _'thankful'_ for Anna's help after the small little banter they had before she was being questioned about her background. But Anna gave a smile to Ælswith acknowledging her compliment. Hild noticed the exchanged and added, "Then I believe this is a cause for a celebration in prayer"

Ælswith nodded and beamed a smile, "Yes! We should pray-" Just then Ælswith turned to Anna, "Anna, would you like to pray with us?" The blond veiled lady paused her tasked and nodded. It wasn't often that she was offered in a gathering of prayer. In fact, the last time she prayed with a group of people was when she was in Saint Wystan's church in Merica - which was about three months ago during the sickness epidemic. Having being invited in prayer felt like a gift to Anna since she was now not alone in communion with God. Anna came to the other side of the King's mother's bedside and knelt there with her hands folded in prayer. All three women went in silence and bowed their heads. For Anna, her prayer was to ask God for Deorstan to not be afraid of her fate. 

~~~

_Outside the doors of Lady Ælswith's quarters_

𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐓 steps crept in Deorstan's ear as he stood across the door of Ælswith's room. The sound jerked his head from his deep thoughts of the confrontation of Lord Æthelhelm. He hoped and prayed that maybe it was Uhtred or someone else other than the sly father-in-law of the king. Starkaðr noticed Deorstan's sudden attention to the direction of the footsteps and wondered the same thing as him. Just when the figures moved around the corner of the hall, the two guards noticed that it was Lady Æthelflæd and her advisor Aldhelm who took ownership of the footsteps. A sigh of relief came upon Deorstan's heart when he laid eyes on them. He then confronted them, "My lady, Lady Ælswith-"

"Is she awake?" Æthelflæd interrupted, "I heard that she is well and has made a full recovery"

Deorstan's brows furrowed, he didn't know how the news of Ælswith's recovery spread throughout the palace. It was impossible that the news of Ælswith's recovery would've broken out that soon. It was as if someone else heard about the miraculous news... Then it hit Deorstan... He realized who might've told Æthelflæd, Aldhelm, and perhaps the king about Ælswith's recovery. Deorstan sighed in stress and asked, "No one has announced of Lady Ælswith's recovery to the court... Anna hasn't even left the room to tell anyone..."

Æthelflæd's face creased in confusion and looked back at Aldhelm who also shared the same expression as her. But before the Lady of Merica could ask Deorstan, Deorstan then asked, "My lady, who told you the news?"

Aldhelm answered on behalf of Æthelflæd, "One of the men of the palace..." Aldhelm then started to think of the man of the name who told him the news, "His name was Erwig, I believed-"

Deorstan rolled his eyes as an image of the tall dark hooded man who was in the courtyard with Lord Æthelhelm during his small interrogation, "Erwig is a man that Lord Æthelhelm hired as _"Winchester's"_ spies," Deorstan continued as he spoke in a whispering tone, "Lord Æthelhelm was trying to pry information on me of Anna this morning in the courtyard. Apparently he discovered about her and where she came from and tried to see whether if I knew her or not"

This information surprised both for Aldhelm and Æthelflæd. They knew now that this was a serious turn of events and that if Æthelhelm got even closer to Anna and Ælswith, disaster and doom will fall upon them and no one will be able to save them from certain death. Æthelflæd folded her arms and began to think, "I know Edward would want to talk to Anna and give her his thanks... If he tries to reward her with anything, I will make sure that the reward will only be a gift of wealth and nothing more," Æthelflæd continued, "I will make arrangments for her to be in my estate in Saltwic and make her my caretaker-"

"Actually, my lady, I have already made plans with Lord Uhtred to take her his estate in Coccham," Deorstan interrupted, "Lord Uhtred will make sure of Anna's safety and well being, he gave me his word..." Æthelflæd, again, was surprised by the news of Uhtred's appearance in Winchester and Deorstan's swift action of planning Anna's get away from the palace. Æthelflæd tried her best not to show that much emotion when Uhtred was mentioned. She still had feelings for the Lord of Bebbanburg, but she knew that they were never meant to be after she took the throne of Mercia. She cleared her throat, "Excellent, Uhtred is a good man - I know he will do his best to keep your God-sister safe out of harm's way-"

"What about the Lady Ælswith?" Starkaðr pipped up from his quite yet nervous shell. He hadn't spent much time with the members of the royal family during his training as a guard, so speaking up to them was very nerve-racking for the tall young man. He then continued, "Once Anna is away, where will Ælswith go?"

Aldhelm gave a small smile to Sihtric's son, "Lady Æthelflæd has planned to move Lady Ælswith to Bedwyn once she is fully recovered and ready to be able to travel." Æthelflæd gave a friendly smile to the kind yet worried young guard, "She will need someone to guard her on her travels, I'm sure she wouldn't mind having someone like you on her travels." Starkaðr shyly blushed at Æthelflæd's potential recruitment of her mother's travel companion and took a step back to once revert back into his shell. Deorstan then switched back to the conversation, "Abbess Hild is with Anna and Lady Ælswith, as we speak"

Æthelflæd nodded, "Then maybe I should join them" Before she went to the door of her mother's quarters, she looked back at Deorstan, "Thank you Deorstan, you have no idea how valuable your information is to me."

"Not a problem, my lady" Deorstan continued with a slight blush on his cheeks from the compliment the Lady of Mercia gave to him, "I should take _Swithin_ back to his training now, good day." Once Deorstan and Starkaðr bowed to the Queen of the Mercians, both of the guards walked back to the courtyard. Starkaðr noticed Deorstan's redden cheeks still on his face and Starkaðr teased, "I see that Lady Æthelflæd has flattered you-"

Deorstan interrupted with a slap on the back of Starkaðr's head, "One more word of this, and I will make sure you're tending to the horses' shit today after supper."

~ ~ ~

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 up on two feet for the first time felt very strange for Lady Ælswith. It felt as if she hadn't stand up in almost a millennia - but she knew that wasn't possible, of course. Anna was kind enough to help her get dressed since she felt a bit weak to do it herself. Even though Anna advised against the idea for Ælswith to walk around the palace right after recovery, Anna had no choice but to give in to Ælswith's wishes. 

Anna was familiar with helping noble ladies getting dressed in their extravagant garbs and attires. In Cantwareburh, she was once the young lady-in-waiting for Deorstan's elder sister; Stangifu of Fordwich (who was now married to a Mercian lord in Lunden) and she remembered how Anna helped Stangifu get dressed for feasts and weddings. Anna also remembered the times when she wasn't studying healing in Frankia, she would be picked by Princess Ermentrude of Frankia to be her temporary lady-in-waiting for the _day_... _Week_... Or _month_... Anna pushed the thoughts of the past of Frankia away from her and focused on the here and now. 

Once Ælswith was fully dressed, Anna took a step back and looked at Ælswith if everything looked at fit correctly. "I think you're all done, my lady," Anna continued, "You look ready for the day." Ælswith smiled and looked at her sky blue attire, it made her feel a lot younger and more alive. However, Ælswith was quite pleased with how Anna was proficient in how she helped her get dressed and how she tried her best to make Ælswith look with perfection. "Thank you Anna, I'm very pleased with this," Ælswith turned to Hild who was sitting on the chair watching them, "What do you think Abbess Hild?"

Hild nodded slightly disinterested, "Young Anna has done a wonderful job on your wardrobe." Anna slightly nodded back and went back to her towels that were now dried. Ælswith then pipped up, "Have you done this before?" Anna was confused, "Done what, my lady?" 

Ælswith sighed and explained, "Have you helped ladies with their wardrobes before? You seem like a professional at helping..." Anna's lip twitched a bit at the question, it was another _'interview'_ question just like the ones Ælswith asked her that morning. But Anna knew she couldn't ignore the question, not when Hild was in the same room as them. "I was a lady-in-waiting for Princess Ermentrude before and during my time studying the healing arts," Anna replied as she fixed her veil that was slightly sliding off her head. Ælswith was not so surprised when Anna explained why she was good with the wardrobe picking, in fact, it was common for a noble lady to be a lady-in-waiting as a bachelorette. But what did sort of surprised Ælswith was that Anna confirmed a bit about her time in Frankia and that her being a lady-in-waiting in Frankia was not originally part of her plans on becoming a healer. 

Then a knock came upon the door and Anna's head turns the sound and followed it. When she opened the door, Æthelflæd stood there with a smile and Anna instantly curtsied when she made eye contact with the Lady of Merica. "My lady," Anna curtsied, "I am guessing you are here for Lady Ælswith?" 

As Anna opened the door widely, Æthelflæd made eye contact with her mother and was astonished by the healthy glow that Ælswith had. She could not believe that Ælswith's recovery was that fast and that how Anna's tonic worked. All those weeks Æthelflæd stood by her mother's ill side felt like a nightmare. But now that nightmare had turned into a dream come true; her mother was finally healed. With a shaky, breathy, and happy voice with tears of joy swelling in her eyes, Æthelflæd rushed to her mother who was curious why she was still in Winchester. Æthelflæd embraced her mother with a hug and Ælswith returned it with a kiss on the forehead. 

Anna was happy to see Æthelflæd happy and Ælswith beaming down love unto her daughter. Though Anna felt somewhat jealous... To have a relationship between a mother and daughter was one she wished she still had. However, her birth mother left her and her guardian died right when she left for Cetham all those years ago... This jealous felt like a sin for her and so she went to the door. As Anna closed the door, she made brief eye contact with Aldhelm who just stood outside the door monitoring the hall. Hild noticed a bit of Anna's bittersweet reaction and thought that maybe she was homesick about her family back in Cantwareburh, but she did not want to dwell on it. 

After the embrace between mother and daughter, Ælswith put her hands on Æthelflæd's shoulders, "Child, what are you doing here? You should be back in Merica-" Æthelflæd, who was still emotional, answered with a calm voice, "I couldn't leave here and not know whether if you would make it out-" Ælswith then embraced her daughter again and rubbed her back as if she was still a small upset child. Ælswith did not want to argue with her daughter for she knew what it felt like to not leave the bedside of a loved one. As the mother and daughter embraced along with the nun and the healer standing there awkwardly, another knock came to the door. Anna was slightly confused about who it was. She already expected Æthelflæd to sometime come in and that she overheard that the king was far too "busy" on meeting his mother. 

Before she could open the door, a man (who seemed to be a guard) and other men in their guard armor opened the door and entered in Ælswith's room. The tall man looked directly at Anna and pointed at her, "Are you Anna of Cantwareburh?" Anna was in shock that news spread around about her appearance in Winchester - but then again, Edwin told her that news spreads quickly around the West Saxon palace. Anna, out of nervousness yet a hint of boldness, questioned the man, "And who are you to ask me of my identity?" 

Ælswith, who was in shock as the other women in the room, was quite impressed with Anna's bold move on question Heregar son of Steapa. It was not common for a woman to question a man when asked about her presence. Of course, she and Æthelflæd would most definitely do the same, but she never thought a healer would. Heregar raised an eyebrow, "I am Heregar, head of the Wessex Guard" He continued, "I'm here on the orders of the King to take you along with Lady Ælswith to him-"

"What for?" Another bold move on Anna. Heregar paused and the whole room was silent. Ælswith then remembered the time when Anna was just a child and how impatient she was when she and Alfred spoke those many moons ago. Heregar kept remained calm and spoke in a stern tone, "The king wants to make an audience with the healer who saved Lady Ælswith" He continued to explain, "King Edward wishes his gratitude to you." 

This gave Anna a shock. Anna believed that she, an unwanted guest in the palace, would be kicked out or arrested by the king due to not having his permission to intervene in his mother's healing. But now hearing that the king wanted to thank her for coming into the palace for helping Lady Ælswith was not what Anna expected. Anna then nodded and turned to Lady Ælswith who was walking towards Anna's side. "We will come as soon as possible, Heregar," She then linked Anna's arm as if she was supporting her standing due to how light she felt from not standing for a whole month, "It may take a while for me to get used to walking again"

Heregar nodded gently to Ælswith, "Of course, my lady. King Edward will understand." After that, he bowed to Ælswith and to Æthelflæd before he and his men left the room. A sigh of relief came upon Anna's lips. The confrontation felt very tense with her; maybe it was because Heregar was tall and intimidating and she wondered how Deorstan tolerated him as the leader... Within her thoughts, Æthelflæd stepped out and spoke, "I suppose I should go to the courtroom as well" She continued as she stepped a bit closer to her mother and the healer, "I'll see you both soon"

Then Æthelflæd swiftly went to her advisor's side and walked through the halls leaving Ælswith, Anna, and Hild in the sunlit quarters. It was quiet for a moment before Ælswith noticed Anna's veil on her head. It reminded her of Ecgwynn back at the monastery when she was visiting her and Æthelstan... The bitter sadness of the memory Ecgwynn and how she would never see her son lingered in Ælswith's thoughts and that veil was a reminder of that... With the veil bothering her, she turned her body to face Anna and reached out gently to take the veil away from Anna, "Here," Ælswith said as she took Anna's veil off mildly, "This veil will make people think you are a nun rather than a healer"

Once she took the veil off, she folded it and gave it to Hild who also grabbed Anna's cloak in case she needed to retrieve it after the audience with the king. Anna made a quick and small smile, she wasn't going to protest. Anna knew from experience about protesting authority and, to her, the veil was nothing more than a piece of cloth. Ælswith then reached out to Anna's arm again and linked it. And once more, Anna was now stepping in territory that would change the course of her future forever...

~~~

_The courtroom, Winchester Palace_

𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍, members of the witan, Lady Æthelflæd, Lord Æthelhelm, the queen, the king, and even the guardsmen waited for the healer and Lady Ælswith... Even Deorstan and Starkaðr were there. Deorstan knew what this was going to be about and it drove him mad. He really hoped that Anna would be avoided by the king but it _had_ to be Æthelhelm and his men slithering about and discovering Anna's existence. What surprised him about this turn of events was that Edward suddenly became interested in his mother's health and the healer who helped her. He didn't know why and how but he could only guess that it could've been Æthelhelm who told the king this information... But he could not judge nor was it really his place. All that he could do was wait and listen to what the king had to say to Anna. 

Anna, who stood outside of the doors with Ælswith in hand, grew more and more nervous. Yes, she had been in a court of another king in another land and kingdom, but this king was the king who ruled over England... A king of her homeland... It felt very intimidating to her and Ælswith could tell by the way she sighed and blinked. "You should not be afraid" Ælswith took Anna's hand that linked around her arm, "My son will be gentle-"

"But my lady," Anna interrupted as if she felt she was rushed, "I'm not welcomed here! I waltz in here and, without his permission, and healed you! I'm no more than an unwelcome guest, he will not want me here-" Ælswith could tell how innocent she was with her nervousness and anxiety to meet Edward. Having Anna thinking of her presence to be that low was a sign of how humble and selfless she was. It was refreshing for Ælswith to see and meet someone of that nature amongst the shadowy people who lingered in the palace walls. Ælswith interjected, "Edward will not humiliate you in any way" She continued, "He will not turn you away or arrest you in any shape or form. All he wants is to thank you."

Anna started to breathe a lot slower and her stress started to ease up from Ælswith's calming words. Did she believe them? Not fully. Anna could only hope and pray that this meeting with Edward will not cause any trouble with Deorstan's plans for Anna's escape. Anna looked down at her feet and the doors opened. Anna's heart started to race again as she tried her best to walk on the beat with Ælswith and made her to not make eye contact with the king unless he addressed her. The golden blond healer noticed how many people were in the room. Mostly they were men of the witan but some of them were the healers who Anna met the other day. Right where she and Ælswith stopped, Anna noticed Deorstan who was watching her. She noticed how worried he looked but kept a calm composure to him. She felt bad for him and hopefully, he would forgive her for this occurrence in plans. 

Edward, who sat on the throne, watched Anna and realized that she had not even seen or made eye contact with him. He could tell that she was nervous and rightfully so... He did not mean for this meeting to happen. This audience was suggested by his advisor, Lord Merehwit of Hæestingas, and other men of the witan who heard the news of Anna and her saving grace of healing Lady Ælswith. He too was surprised at the quick news of Anna, though he wondered that when he met Anna that night; he gave her some bad luck... 

He cleared his throat and announced, "It is good to see that the Lady Ælswith, my mother, has been healed with the help of this healer-" 

_That voice was familiar to Anna_... And when she finally made eye contact with the king, her heart just sank deep and her skin felt cold as ice. She finally knew who it was and she would never expected that _'Edwin'_ , the kind servant who came and visited last night, was actually the King of Wessex...Emotions ran high for the golden blond woman; confused, in shock, _betrayed_... She almost did not know how to react in a mature way as possible. With all of those emotions, she felt embarrassed and her cold skin began to warm up with her delicate cheeks rising with heat. Her mouth was agape slightly in shock and she felt as if her lungs stopped breathing. 

Edward took a notice of Anna's reaction and he too felt embarrassed about the situation. He wished he and Anna spoke in private just like they did that night. He wanted to explain his true identity to her and not make her feel uncomfortable. Edward wished and wanted about how this situation could've been handled but he couldn't change fate... 

Ælswith pipped up, "I am very grateful to her" She then introduced Anna to the court who seemed very shy and intimidated, "May I present Anna, the former ward of my late friend Lady Agatha of Wárhámtún manor and the city of Cantwareburh." Ælswith then unlinked her arm from Anna's and nodded to her to take a step forward to greet Edward. She knew that both of them met last night, however, she was worried whether Anna's proper interaction with Edward would be strained.

Anna shyly took a step forward and remembered the Frankish etiquettes she was trained back in Paris when she made an audience with King Odo. And so, she bowed her head and curtsied all the way down to the floor without a single struggle bending her knees and keeping balance on her two feet. Many people quietly gasped at the sight of Anna's bow, it was quite foreign to many of the people in the room. Queen Ælflæd was confused and a bit jealous of how graceful she bowed, Lady Æthelflæd gave a small smile at the sight due to having been introduced to that yesterday, and Lady Ælswith had her brows raised in amazement - though she recalled that Anna did mention she was a lady-in-waiting in Frankia beforehand. 

Edward did not expect Anna's graceful greeting towards him. It surprised him greatly and it made her glow even more to him. However, he didn't want others - including his wife - to see his how enamored he was at the sight of this healer. Before he could ask Anna to arise, Ælflæd raised her head with her lips plumped out and her brow raised, "Where did you learn that?" Ælflæd asked Anna with a hint of jealous and slight distaste to Anna's exotic genuflect. Ælswith could see the discomfort Anna was getting into. Anna did not raise her head nor did she began to stand up properly for she was not told to by either the king nor his queen. Though Anna answered Ælflæd's question as she tried not to sound in pain from the bow she was holding, "I learned it in Frankia-"

"You may arise" Edward interrupted as he saw and knew the discomfort the golden-haired healer had. Anna was relieved when Edward told her to stand up. She could tell that he didn't want her to go through the pain of just simply holding her bow for the king. It was the least he could do to show her some kindness. Ælflæd, being a little disappointed at Edward's decision, questioned Anna even further, "And why were you in Frankia?"

"She was in Frankia to study the arts of healing," Ælswith explained on the behalf of Anna, "She was in the court of King Odo and was a lady-in-waiting for Princess Ermentrude; daughter of King Louis of the Carolingian dynasty..." Whispers sounded through the hall of the court, but Anna did not look up at the people nor the king, Lady Ælswith, or her God-brother. In some ways, Edward was not surprised at all about the details of Anna's time in Frankia. Sure, Anna told him that she went there to study in Paris. But Anna? Her being a lady-in-waiting for a princess? He could tell why she was brought in the court, she had grace and wit to her. When the whispers became louder and louder.

Edward raised his hand to stop the chattering of the witan and lords. He got up from his throne and took a step forward towards Anna. Ælflæd grew confused at Edward's action and also followed a bit by standing up from her chair, though she did not take a step with her husband. "For my gratitude for saving my mother, I want to reward you with a gift," Edward continued as Anna slightly lifted her head up, "I will give you a place in my court as a healer and caretaker for Lady Ælswith and five-hundred pounds in silver-" 

"I do not want it," Anna's interruption echoed in the court. Edward, a bit taken back by Anna's bold refusal, did remember what Æthelflæd told him the night before about her not wanting to be rewarded. Anna raised her head more to see the crowded room and saw the faces of the witan and lords. She could tell that they thought she was a bit insane to refuse a high gift from the king, but Anna wasn't mad she was just being humble. 

Edward folded his hands and questioned to the lowly maiden, "And why do you not want it?"

"There are those in history that have done great deeds and not once have they've been recorded or rewarded for their courageous actions. I wish to be part of those unwritten few...," Anna continued as she spoke from her heart and mind, "I heal people for not their pockets of gold or silver nor their high praises of thanks, I heal people because it is a duty that God gave me. I believe if I serve the people of England, with my abilities of healing, then I am helping England by mending the broken things that have been brought onto this great land..." She paused for a moment and looked around to see the people's faces, "I desire nothing but grace and life unto those who I serve and heal, it is the greatest honor for me to take and love..."

_Silence._

_Quiet._

_Nothing._

Her words were noble and her voice seemed genuine - not once did she falter in her speech nor show any signs of deceit. Memories of Anna and Alfred's interaction flowed once more in Ælswith's mind. It did not surprise her one bit that Anna would respond to Edward's question with humbleness and such selflessness. Deorstan gave a small smile after Anna's speech, he too was reminded of the time when Anna was young and was filled with wisdom and grace at a young age. He was still happy and proud that she still kept a bit of that in her after all those years of knowing and growing up with her. However, for everyone else, they did not expect her answer. Edward felt more drawn to her than ever. Her bold yet humble response quite impressed Edward. He still wanted to reward her despite her wants and desires. 

"Your words are very moving, my lady, and we all admire it," Edward continued as Anna cringed at the title of 'lady' that referred to her, "But you will take the gift, it will be the greatest honor for us, the peoples of Wessex, to accept it. It is not a sin to take those who are offering you charity after what you have done. It is my service to give back after what you did on your own accord."

Anna did not know how to respond to that. It felt like this gift and offer was now forced upon her. If she refused, then Edward would keep pushing and pushing onto her until she gives in. If she accepted, then Deorstan's plans of her escape will fail and he would have to find another path to get her out - though she knew it would be a difficult one. As she looked at Edward with the uncertainty of what the future now will hold, she took a deep breath, "I will not take your silver, but I will accept the position as Lady Ælswith's caretaker and healer"

Edward softly smiled and extended his hand to her to signify the honor and her accepting his gift. Anna, now hesitant, reached out as well and accepted his hand and gift. "I, Edward of Wessex, welcome you to my home as a friend. Thank you," After he spoke a round of applause broke between the witan and lords of Wessex. Anna gave a small smile to Edward before she released his grip and walked back to Ælswith. As she walked back with the lords talking amongst themselves, she noticed that Deorstan was gone. She expected as much and thought that maybe he was going to report to Uhtred and figure out another plan for her to escape. 

Before she stepped side-by-side with Ælswith, an older man approached her, "You've made a very well and _noble_ speech, very humble indeed." Anna's brows furrowed in confusion and wondered who this lord was and took an interest in her, "I'm sorry, my lord, I do not know you-" 

"Forgive me, I am Lord Æthelhelm of Wiltunscir," Æthelhelm continued, "I am Queen Ælflæd's father if that will give you any familiarity..." That made Anna's skin grow cold once again. This was the man that poisoned Lady Ælswith and now was trying to make his acquaintance to her. She studied him for a bit and could see the slyness and ambition in his eyes that Deorstan described to her. It felt very haunting that this man would be her doom if she didn't escape Winchester on time and that very much intimidated her. 

Ælswith, who was watching the interaction between the healer and the man who poisoned her, now realized what Anna met that if she didn't tell the truth; it would be worse for _both_ of them. Anna was now in danger and she was just a lamb and the wolf was face-to-face with her. Ælswith knew what she had to do, she confronted them and linked her arm again with Anna's, "Come, I believe our time in the courtroom is over" She looked at Æthelhelm with a slight of sly in her eye, "I'm sure Lord Æthelhelm will be needed in the witan meeting later"

Æthelhelm almost rolled his eyes but kept his composure cool and steady, "Indeed... Goodday, my ladies..." And just like that, he faded away with the crowd of other men in the hall. As Ælswith and Anna made their way to the door entrance off the courtroom, Hild approached them with Anna's veil and cloak in hand, "I believe these are yours?"

Anna took them with her empty arm, "Thank you" Then she suddenly blurted with a hint of fear, "Can I take quarters in the Nunnery?" Hild, who had no say of permission due to Anna now being a servant for Ælswith, looked at Ælswith. Ælswith nodded back and said, "You may stay there if need be..." Anna nodded and had a small sigh of relief before she kept walking towards the doors along with Hild leaving their company. 

"I now know what you meant about the danger and I am truly sorry for not fully understanding and barking at you earlier," Ælswith continued, "You have a right to be afraid, Winchester was not the same when my husband ruled... It is, sadly, much more dangerous to be at..." With a faint whisper, Anna spoke in defeat, "What must I do?"

"You must be cautious, young Anna," Ælswith whispered yet in a caring and stern tone, "You are now a lamb in a wolf's den-" Right when Ælswith spoke to Anna and before they left the hall, Anna's ears perked up when she heard Edward's voice, "My lords, besides this meeting of giving thanks to my mother's now caretaker, I want to propose a new building site"

Anna looked at Edward who brought in a scroll of plans and set it to a small table. Edward continued, "I have spent last night drawing up the site and building plans of a library. Since my father's and other predecessor's chronicles have no safe haven to rest, I believe that a new library for these books would be appropriate-" 

One lord spoke up who studied the blueprints of Edward's potential library, "Lord-King, these plans seem so sudden - especially with this much detail-" Edward interjected, "I believe it is time to actually think and reflect the legacy about our written history. Suddenly or not, it matters to actually discuss and plan." Anna couldn't believe that he actually thought, in seriousness, about the chronicles' well being. It almost stunned her. Though she remembered what _'Edwin'_ told her last night about the king considering her idea... _It seemed he considered it very much_...

Another lord also commented, "My Lord, forgive me when I say this, but this idea seems so thought out. Surely it wasn't just your idea too?" Edward chuckled a bit, "Actually, you are right Lord Ealhsige. If you all wanted to know; an _angel_ came to me last night and told me that I had to build this library for the good of our people..." Laughs echoed in the hall, having the lords think it was a joke that Edward pulled but actually it was _somewhat_ true... And Anna and Ælswith knew that it was true for they were in the same room as Edward that night. 

As the lords laughed a bit and discuss among themselves about the idea of a library, Edward and Anna made eye contact with Edward softly smiling at her as an acknowledgment of Anna's idea. Anna blushed heavily and blinked multiply times before she and Lady Ælswith continued on their path out of the hall. 

When they finally left, Anna began to think less about the danger that she was facing and more of Edward acknowledging her idea to him of a library and wondering why he called her an _'angel'_ and not some other noun like _'friend'_. In the back of her head, a slight thought came to her about the past and hoped that the future interactions between her and the king would not turn out liked what happed between her and Rathier in Frankia back when she was both a healer trainee and lady-in-waiting... 


End file.
